Steven Parallel Universe: The Legend of Giantdad
by Cathari Sarad
Summary: While the Gems are relaxing in Steven's room, strange happenings befall Beach City, and Heartless start appearing everywhere. After meeting with two men from another world, Steven and his friends travel across the multiverse to fight an army of keyblade warriors under auspice of a menace known as The Great Shrekpire, while fighting any other threats they come across along the way.
1. They Come

**A/N: Hello everyone! After a long period of dormancy, I've decided to write up another trainwreck of a crossover. This is a mega-crossover crack fic, so while I won't divulge what other works will be integrated in this story, expect to see things outside of the listed fandoms. For those of you who aren't familiar with some of my other stuff, expect lame jokes and memes. Expect lots of memes (though not necessarily in this chapter).**

 **While this fic is rated T for now, there will be some darker elements as the story goes on, so I may change it to M later if I deem it necessary.**

 **I haven't had much time to look at some of the fics within the two primary constituent fandoms, so my handling on the characters might not be the best. Some things might not necessarily line up with the core mechanics of the original works, though I do have a few explanations for some of the discrepancies, even if they might not be the most lore-friendly.**

 **If you have any questions, or would like to state your opinion, feel free to review, and feel free to like/subscribe if you enjoy this.**

 **Without further ado, let's begin.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe, Kingdom Hearts, or any of the other original works this story may cross over with. Steven Universe is the creation of Rebecca Sugar/Cartoon Network, while Kingdom Hearts is the creation of Disney/Square Enix.**

* * *

Connie stood before Steven's residence. Today was movie night, so she had brought the DVD set for the first season of _Animal Kingdoms_ , which was all the rave these days. Connie had not watched the series yet, but she was well familiar with the books it was based on, _The Howls of Wolves and Lions_. Sure, it had talking animals in it, but it was dark, gritty, and realistic, though the later books seemed to drag on for too long without much actually happening.

Today, it was Pearl who answered the door, "Good afternoon, Connie! Are you ready to begin today's training session with Steven?"

"Of course!"

"Come right on in."

As Pearl sidestepped to let Connie pass, she turned to the alcove above, where Steven and the others seemed to be watching something on TV.

"Steven!" Pearl called out as the door slipped from her grasp.

Steven snapped to attention, "Oh, right!"

He swiftly turned off the screen and bolted down the set of stairs nearby. Amethyst stretched out on the bed and let out a big yawn, while Garnet seemed to gaze at a slim case as she rotated it in her hand.

"Oh, hey Connie!" said Steven. "Sorry I couldn't…"

"What were you watching up there?"

"Oh, that?" Steven said as he ruffled his hair. "Onion stopped by earlier and gave me this DVD he found. I was thinking maybe we could watch it later this evening, but, well…"

"What's it about?" Connie asked.

"It's about this superhero who goes off on these adventures to fight Count Dracula and all these other evil super-villains."

"Giantdad," said Garnet.

Connie turned to the impressive gem as she strode down the stairs, giving her a quizzical look. "Giantdad?"

Garnet held out the case before her.

 _The Legend of Giantdad._

A man wearing a bearded mask and golden armor featured prominently on the case's cover, with a sword resting in his right hand and his arms stretched out wide. Several other costumed figures stood beside him, though Connie didn't recognize any of them save for a Batman-like figure wearing a fedora.

 _Did they even get permission to make this?_

Connie flipped the case over, but couldn't find any signs of the DC logo. None of the other logos seemed familiar to her either.

"Is this some kind of cheap knockoff?"

"What do you mean?" asked Steven.

"Some movies are known for trying to capitalize on the success of more successful movies. Well, this isn't exactly a movie, but you get the idea." Connie turned the case around again. "I can't seem to figure out just what this is copying exactly."

"It seemed alright to me."

Connie suddenly felt the touch of Pearl's hands on her shoulder, "Well, the two of you can watch it after your training. Connie, you _did_ remember to inform your parents you were staying, right?"

"I did."

"Wonderful!" Pearl then turned the two of them towards the back end of the room. "Why don't you two head over to the warp pad right now?"

"Alright," said Steven.

"Yeah," said Connie. She briefly turned back toward Garnet and held out the case, "Here, why don't you hold onto this for now."

"Sure. Have fun you two."

As Connie and Steven stepped towards the gem portal, Connie briefly saw Garnet glance at the case once more before saying, "Hmm… There does seem to be something odd about this show..."

* * *

 _ **-BOOM!-**_

On the screen, the heroes burst into the bad guy's command center with an explosive flash.

"Muffin Man!" Giantdad proclaimed as he pointed toward the camera, "Your evil and treachery ends here!"

The footage turned to the titular villain as he shoved their now deceased comrade, King, off his high perch.

"No," Steven shouted in-sync with Giantdad's sidekick, Greased Lightning, "King!"

Greased Lightning rushed forward to retrieve King's dead body as The Muffin Man let out a loud cackle.

"I thought you were supposed to be good," cried The Green Ranger, "but you only wish to bring about violence and destruction!"

"Precisely!" said The Muffin Man. "But enough chit-chat! Your journey ends here!"

The robed villain slipped out four small, bite-sized doughnut holes from his pockets, and then raised them up high.

"Now you must taste the wrath of my _EXPLODING BLUEBERRY MUNCHKINS OF DOOM!"_

"What did he just…"

As Connie looked on profoundly at the absurdity of that line, the four munchkins arced over the many workstations separating The Muffin Man from the heroes and landed right at the heroes' feet.

"And those aren't just your regular old blueberries," said The Muffin Man as the Heroes looked on in bewilderment. "As a matter of fact, _THEY'RE ACTUALLY MINIATURIZED NUCLEAR WARHEADS!"_

 _ **-KABOOM!-**_

 _"NOOOOOOOO…!"_ Steven cried as he hugged his television set.

"Uh, Steven," Amethyst said as she got up from her reclined position, "could you not hog the screen?"

"Sorry!"

Steven immediately scooched back a bit.

When the fire and smoke subsided, all the heroes seemed to have perished.

"Oh my!" commented Pearl.

"Hmm…" Garnet murmured.

"They're all dead…" cried Steven.

"Relax Steven," said Connie, "I'm sure…"

Connie didn't seem all that impressed by the scenes that displayed before her, though the others seemed to lean forward in anticipation.

"Yes!" cried The Muffin Man, "I win! Now no one will be able to stop the great carnage and destruction I shall inflict on this Earth!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" As The Muffin Man was about to begin his evil laugh, again, Giantdad rose from the rubble and bodies of his comrades, holding himself up with his longsword.

"What? But how are you still alive?"

"Have you forgotten? Though I may fall in battle, _the legend never dies!"_

 _"NOOOOOO…!"_ screamed The Muffin Man.

Steven jumped up where he was. "He said the thing! He just said it!"

"We know, Steven," said Pearl. "I'm still not sure what you guys see in this thing."

"I'm still wondering that myself," said Garnet.

"Well, you're still watching it, right?" said Amethyst.

"It's not like I enjoy taking my time off to watch this mess," Pearl replied.

"It is kinda cliché though," Connie added.

"Whatever," said Amethyst. "It's got enough action for my liking, though I wish they'd just get over that romantic sub-plot with Snow White and The Gingerbread Man."

"Who would've thought they'd actually make Snow White into a bad guy," Steven added.

The fight scene continued on for about another minute or so. The quality was about something one would expect from a third-rate Sci-fi B-movie, but something about it seemed strangely familiar.

"Fiona…" Garnet said out of the blue.

"Huh?" Amethyst said as she turned around.

"I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before, yet I have no recollection of where I heard it from."

"Well, it's just a common Earth name," said Pearl. "Surely you must have heard it from somewhere, right?"

"I've got that feeling too," Connie added.

"Really now?"

"Sounds pretty spooky if you ask me," said Amethyst, taking a moment to stretch before returning her attention to the show.

"Well doesn't your future-vision tell you anything about this?" asked Steven, now turned slightly away from the TV.

"That's the thing," said Garnet. "Whenever I try to focus lately, I've been coming up blank."

"What do you mean?"

"My powers allow me to forsee myriad possibilities, and yet this show does not appear in any one of them."

There was a pause before Pearl spoke up, "That's… extremely unusual."

"Maybe we should stop watching…"

Before Connie could finish, Amethyst pointed toward the screen and said, "Guys look, Muffin Man's about to get owned!"

Everyone's attention turned back to the screen, where Giantdad was just about to deliver his final blow.

"How did you survive all my attacks?" cried The Muffin Man as the scene cut to him.

"All it takes is a little bit of hard work and practice," said Giantdad. "You just need to _GET…"_

The screen suddenly shut off, along with all the lights in the house.

"Huh?" said Pearl.

"Aw man…" cried Amethyst.

As Connie's eyes began to adjust to the sudden darkness, a strange, greenish glow seemed to shine from the sky, akin to an aurora.

As she walked over to the window, Connie rubbed her eyes and said, "What's going on?"

Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl also walked over to the window. The shimmering light in the sky seemed to glow brighter with every second, until it culminated in a great flash.

"Garnet," said Pearl, "you might want to come over and take a look at this."

No response, outside of several sharp snapping noises.

"Garnet?"

 _"Errghhh…!"_

When Pearl and the others turned to look, Garnet was holding her head in pain, as electric sparks seemed to jump back and forth across her visor, where each of her eyes would be.

"Garnet," cried Steven, "what's happening?"

The larger gem stretched her hand out and said, _"Stay back! All of you! Errrrghhhh!"_

The sparks seemed to grow more intense with each passing second, until they began jumping from her hands and across her fro.

"She isn't becoming corrupted, is she?" Connie asked.

"We don't know!" replied Pearl. "This hasn't happened before!"

"Guys, look!" interrupted Amethyst. "Meteor shower!"

Connie swiftly turned to look. The sky had returned to normal, though there now seemed to be thousands of stars dashing across the sky, some of them moving faster than others.

Steven's head swept back and forth between Garnet and the strange events unfolding in the sky. "Is this Homeworld's invasion?"

"No…" said Garnet, now collapsing onto the floor. "They… they're not the ones behind this… I'm getting… ergh… visions."

"What kind of visions?"

 _"I don't know!"_ Garnet shouted as she briefly released her hands, _"Errrghhhh! Steven, whatever you do, don't… EAAAAAGHHHHH…!"_

The sparks circled around the Gem's leader with ever increasing rapidity. A soft, whitish glow began to radiate out from her, and her body began levitating on its own accord.

 _ **-SCRATCH!-SCRATCH!-SCRATCH!-SCRATCH!-**_

Everyone's attention instantly jumped to the door below.

"Lion!" shouted Steven.

Amethyst brought out her whip and began to pull it back. "I'll…"

"No, Amethyst, let me handle this."

As everyone else continued watching Garnet in her suffering, Pearl gracefully jumped off from the side and opened the door for Lion.

The noble beast bolted straight in, and suddenly spun around.

"What in the name of…"

Pearl ducked just in time to avoid Lion as he flung itself right back at the door, slamming it shut.

Lion collapsed right on the spot, before finally noticing Garnet floating just beyond the stairs.

 _"Aahhhhh…!"_

The glow and sparks slowly faded away, and Garnet's arms went limp before she crashed right onto the floor. Her mouth remained wide open, and yet she did not show any signs of corruption.

"This is bad," stated Amethyst, as she slowly approached her comrade.

"How is she still whole after that?" exclaimed Pearl. "This doesn't make any sense!"

"What do we do?" said Steven.

"Why don't you try using your healing spit?" said Connie.

"Oh, yeah!" Steven cautiously took a few steps toward the now unconscious, yet still intact, gem. "But what if Garnet…"

"Just do it!" said Amethyst.

"Okay! Okay!"

Steven slowly tiptoed over to Garnet. He then spat into his hand, and then polished the gemstone in each of Garnet's hands, though neither one showed any signs of damage.

Nothing happened.

"Okay, maybe if I just…"

Steven then removed Garnet's visor. All three eyes were wide open, though not one of them acknowledged Steven's presence. Steven once again tried applying his healing spit, though nothing came from it.

"There's gotta be a way…" murmured Steven.

"Give it a rest," said Amethyst. "There's not much else we can do right now. Let's just wait and see if she gets better."

"Alright…"

Steven, Connie, and Amethyst then stepped around Garnet and descended to the lower level. Steven and Connie briefly turned back to look at Garnet in her lamentable state, though Amethyst continued walking towards the seating near the window.

Lion also got up onto the seating, and then pressed his paws up against the glass, before looking back at Steven and Connie.

"Wait!" said Connie. "What are we standing around here for? Beach City might be in danger!"

"Yeah!" said Steven. "We gotta go save them!"

"Ugh! How on Earth could I have overlooked something so simple and obvious?"

Pearl drew her spear as she approached the door, and then turned around and pointed it at the two youths.

"Alright, listen up! Steven, Connie, the two of you are staying here to make sure nothing happens to Garnet. Amethyst, you're coming with me."

Connie briefly turned to Garnet before saying, "But can't we just bubble Garnet so all of us can come with?"

"There's no telling what that thing did. She could turn out totally fine, but then again, I'd rather not make that sort of risk."

"She'll be fine," said Amethyst. "Let's just go already."

As Pearl and Amethyst moved for the door, Lion jumped from his seat and obstructed the two gems' path.

"What are you doing?" Pearl asked.

Lion briefly turned towards Steven and Connie, before retracting his glance to Pearl.

"You want us to come, Lion?" said Steven.

The pink lion simply nodded in the affirmative.

"You sure about this?" asked Pearl.

Lion nodded once again.

Pearl shrugged, "Fine. Amethyst, you stay and watch over Garnet. Steven, Connie, you're coming with."

"Hooray!" said Steven as he jumped for joy.

"Aw man…" Amethyst said as she turned around.

"Oh, my bad. Sorry if we kinda took your spot."

"We really wish you could come with," said Connie.

"Eh, its no big deal," said Amethyst. "I just need to stay here, relax, make sure Garnet is safe, and try not to think about anything… that's all."

"You sure you're alright, Amethyst?" Steven asked.

"I'm fine. Just do whatever you've got to do."

"Alright."

As Amethyst went to seat herself on the couch, Lion backed away from the door and lowered himself so Steven and Connie could climb on.

"Whenever you're ready," Pearl said as she began opening the door, "I'll be waiting for you two outside."

As Steven got onto Lion's back, Connie went over to her duffel bag and began fishing for her phone and Rose's sword. The sword wasn't too difficult to find, though it took a few moments longer to find her phone. Luckily, it still seemed to have battery life.

 _Better call my parents so they know I'm alright._

No signal.

Connie quickly pocketed the device, and then flung her sword over her shoulder.

 _Well, that's one more place we're going tonight._

After mounting onto the magical beast, Lion got up and strode out the door. The whole town was pure blackness, save for a few lanterns, flashlights, and makeshift torches flickering in the distance.

Closer to the Beach House, where Pearl's light now shone, were several diminutive green-armored figures.

"What are those things?" asked Pearl.

Each being wore a shining, black, knight-like top-helm, with a pair of beady yellow eyes staring from the darkness underneath. They all had monstrous, over-sized claws, and their chests bore a large, black, heart-like emblem outlined in blood-red, with an "X" going through it. Though Pearl's light shone on them, they did not seem to acknowledge its presence, as they zipped to and fro across the beach and the hill leading up to Steven's house.

"Are those… gems?" Connie asked.

"I'm… not sure," Steven replied.

"Well, whatever they are," said Pearl, "it's possible they might have something to do with whatever happened to Garnet. Yet just where did they come from?"

Out of the corner of Steven's eye, a small, blackish mass, bearing the same beady eyes, rose up from the ground next to Pearl.

"Pearl, watch out!"


	2. Beachside Rumble

**A/N: Okay, just as a note, I just realized I made an error in the previous chapter, as the temple/Beach House is on the opposite side of the giant hill thing from the city, so Steven and the Gems would not have been able to see stuff going on there. Probably would not have discovered this had I not been trying to figure out in what order Steven and the Gems would attempt to do stuff based on where places are in relationship to each other.**

* * *

"Huh?"

The moment Pearl turned to face the strange creature, it crouched and then leapt, aiming to strike the gem. Steven summoned his shield out in preparation.

"Waaah!"

With one swift movement, Pearl suddenly stepped back, lowered her spear, and then swept it straight through the creature, causing it to dissipate.

"Can't believe I let myself get caught off-guard like that."

"It's… dead?"

"I guess?"

The door behind them snapped open.

"Guys," said Amethyst, "what's going on out there?"

"Shadow… things…" Steven said.

"Alright, just let me know if you need any help out there."

As this was going on, Connie saw several more of the small shadowy creatures jump up the stepladder and shamble their way towards the Gems.

"Look," Connie said while pointing, "more of them are coming this way!"

"I'm on it."

Pearl jumped onto the rail and ran across it, spinning her weapon straight through the shadows until they poofed away.

One of them shrunk flat into the ground and tried making its way toward the front door.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Pearl then sprung off the railing and plunged her spear straight through the shadow.

 _ **-POOF!-**_

Though the shadow dissipated, Pearl's spear had broken through the wood underneath.

"Maybe I should have waited before making that attack."

"It doesn't look that bad," said Amethyst.

"Besides, we can always try and fix it later," said Steven.

"But yeah, way to go Pearl!"

"No need to compliment me, though these things seem a lot less threatening than I expected."

Pearl dislodged her spear from the deck and proceeded towards the stepladder ahead.

She briefly turned to Steven and Connie and said, "Come along you two."

Shortly after Pearl climbed down onto the hill, Lion leaped over the porch and stood beside her.

"So what do we do about these things?" asked Connie.

Despite their relatively close proximity, the green-armored creatures seemed to ignore the group entirely, running about without any signs of losing stamina.

"It doesn't look like they're trying to hurt anyone or anything like that," said Steven. "Maybe they're different from those other things we just fought."

"Alright," said Pearl, "we'll ignore them for now, but keep your eyes peeled if more of those things try to attack us."

"Got it!" said Connie.

"Okay," said Steven, "let's start by checking to see if my dad is okay."

As Pearl and Lion circled along the beach, none of the strange creatures seemed to pester them along the way. In fact, the creatures seemed to be going out of the way to avoid them. Up ahead, most of the city seemed to be covered in darkness, save for the light from a few makeshift bonfires, lanterns, and headlights.

As they got close to the car wash, they saw Greg dash from around the corner, being chased by several floating orange beak-like things and navy-armored knight-creatures similar to the ones they saw earlier.

"Guys! I need a little help here!"

Greg Universe swung around and round with the heavy boom-box he kept in his van, but none of the strange creatures seemed to be affected by it. He also seemed to be a tad bruised up, as the various creatures seemed intent on attacking him.

"Don't worry dad! I'll save you!" said Steven.

Steven flung his shield forward, causing it to slice and ricochet through most of the floating beak-copter things. Shortly after dissipating, however, a translucent, pink, heart-shaped object burst out from each one, ascending upward while spinning on its vertical axis.

"Huh?"

Although Steven stood up from where he was, catching his shield as it returned to him, the glowing lights ascended far too rapidly for him to react.

"What are those?" Connie asked.

"Who knows?" said Pearl, as she struck through one of the silver-helmeted shadow beings nearby.

Another heart-like object burst from it, though Pearl extended her hand and bubbled it before it could escape. The heart collided with the roof of the bubble, and then began to bounce around inside, until its movement began to slow down.

"I think they might be gems," Steven thought aloud, "except different."

"We can investigate them later," Pearl said as she sent the bubble away.

As Greg ran toward them, a few more of the strange creatures approached from down the street, including a several arm-less, floating, pod-like creatures wearing wizard hats and robes in various colors. In their midst, a few dark, purplish spheres manifested and then dispersed, leaving behind even more of the shadowy beings. A deep, but soft, engine-like drone could also be heard in the distance.

"What are those things?" asked Greg.

"Still trying to figure that out," said Pearl as she made another graceful slash.

Lion then leaped forward into a cluster of the navy-armored knights, knocking several of them over.

" _HIYAA!"_

Connie then slashed through three of the soldiers as they tried to get back on their two feet.

"Connie, wait up!"

Steven swiftly turned to bubble two of the hearts that came out, though the third got away.

The helmed creatures began to claw at Lion's left side, though he swiftly spun around to claw at them.

Connie, however, was not prepared for this, so instead she was flung off Lion's back.

" _WAAAH!"_

"Connie!"

For a few seconds, the world spun around her, though shortly after she met the sudden thud of Rose's sword colliding into the ground, forcing her to let go of it.

Once she stopped tumbling, she heard Pearl's voice a few dozen feet away, "Connie!"

"Connie, watch out!" Greg's voice soon said after.

Almost immediately after, two of the short, antenna-ed figures and one of the knight creatures stood right next to her.

She quickly got back up, and braced herself to fend off the shadow beings.

In a flash of light, Rose's sword appeared in her hands.

"What the…?"

"How in the world did you do that?" Connie heard Steven's dad say.

 _No time to think about this._

As one of the smaller creatures prepared to pounce her, Connie swept Rose's sword straight through it, and then moved to take down the other two creatures.

In the midst of her techniques, Connie thought she saw a bluish spark crack along the edge of the blade, and for an instant she thought she saw a slender key-like object manifest from underneath the blade.

A few more strikes, and all the creatures around her had dissipated, though she lacked the abilities to capture the transparent heart that surged out from the knight.

"You alright, Connie?" asked Steven as he turned away from the fight.

"I'm fine."

"Good to hear," said Greg Universe.

Now that most of the creatures were cleared from her immediate surroundings, Pearl aimed her spear towards the enemies down the street, and unleashed a barrage of energy bolts towards them.

 _ **-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-**_

More hearts rose from them, and when some of the smoke subsided, a few of the floating creatures began to drift away.

Pearl spun her spear around and then struck it into the ground. "All taken…"

 _ **-FSHOOM!-FSHOOM!-**_

Two miniature propeller-planes, with each pilot's head and feet sticking out the top and bottom of the plane, flew in from above the building sitting across from Greg's car wash, and then dove in towards the group.

"Oh god, how many of these things are there?" Pearl complained.

"Everyone come quick!" cried Steven as he jumped off Lion's back.

While Lion ran to take cover behind Greg's car wash, Pearl, Greg, and Connie all ran straight for Steven, who held his arms out as the aeroplanes zoomed towards them.

Just seconds before the planes came close, Steven encapsulated everyone in his hardened bubble.

Without warning, the plane on the left stopped, tilted back, and then opened fire, though none of its bullets could penetrate Steven's bubble.

The other plane suddenly zipped forward and drove right into Steven's bubble, causing it to start rolling just slightly backwards and to the side.

"Whoa…!" exclaimed Steven's dad.

"Steven!" yelled Connie.

Everyone was thrown off-balance by the plane's collision, which was then followed by a second crash coming from a completely different direction.

When the bubble finally stopped moving, Steven quickly sat back up and dispersed it.

"I think I'm going to be sick once all of this is over," said Greg Universe.

"Tell me about it," said Connie as she pushed herself up with Rose's sword.

"Alright!" said Pearl, scanning the area while holding out her spear, "just where are…"

Pearl's light then shone on one of the planes as it was swerving around the beach.

"Aha!"

Pearl fired off a barrage of bolts at the plane further away, though it still remained intact.

"These things are durable," Pearl remarked.

"Here comes the other one!" Connie noted while pointing in the direction opposite Pearl's light.

"I've got it!"

Steven Universe ran in front of the group and enlarged his shield, just as the second plane was about to let off another bullet barrage.

"You're not getting away this time!"

While the plane hovered in place, Connie circled around Steven, and then grasped onto the plane's left wing.

" _HIYAA!"_

In one swift motion, Connie lifted herself over the plane's hull, mounted herself right onto its tailfin, and then drove Rose's sword straight into the pilot's shoulder. She drove the sword into the plane again and again, with an audible metallic shear or squish each time around.

In an attempt to shake the girl off, the plane tried flipping itself over, but as soon as it aligned itself straight upward, Connie leaped off and slashed straight across its wings.

The creature dissipated, and Steven quickly bubbled the heart-shaped light that came out.

At roughly the same time, Lion leaped down from Beach City's enormous mound, and crushed the last plane under his claws. A heart did not seem to emerge from it, though it was likely absorbed into Lion's fur.

"We did it!" shouted Steven.

"Is that all of them?" Greg said as he looked around the area.

"There's probably more of them out there," said Pearl, "though just where are they coming from?"

"They just started appearing out of nowhere, right after the power went out. Luckily, they didn't do anything to my van. At least, I don't think they did."

"I'm just glad you're okay, dad," said Steven.

"I am too," said Greg.

"Amethyst should still be guarding the temple," said Pearl, turning back while facing the city ahead, "so you should be safe there for now."

"What about Garnet?"

"Uh… about that."

"Something happened to her during the outage," Connie added. "She mentioned something about having these visions, so I think it might have something to do with her future-vision."

"At any rate, I wouldn't get too close her if I were you," said Pearl. "Steven was fine, but there's no telling if that strange... _experience_ had any other side-effects."

As the group began to head back to the Beach House, one of the green-bodied knights zipped from around the corner and dashed by.

"Just ignore those ones for now," said Pearl as she pointed to it. "They're harmless as far as I'm aware."

"Though if those things are gems, figuratively speaking, then maybe we should go free them," Steven suggested.

"Amethyst would probably be better at mopping up those things anyway. Let's quickly drop off your dad at the temple and get back to cleaning up this mess."

* * *

"Well that's another batch taken care of."

The two warriors then de-summoned their weapons and continued along the highway. The walls had taken quite a few hits during the fight, though luckily they had been quick enough to extinguish the flames before they could spread to the forest.

The lankier of the two individuals, Lea, folded his arms behind his head, and then leaned in towards his compatriot, "So how long do you think it'll take until they find us this time?"

"Who knows? We didn't land near the break this time around."

"True," said his more casually dressed partner. "Maybe that'll buy us some time."

"I sure hope so."

During the short silence, the black-coat warrior looked up at the stars in the sky. It looked similar enough to the constellations of his home world, though perhaps if he looked hard enough, there would be a few differences here and there.

"The Heartless are thinning at any rate," said Lea's partner.

"Yeah," said Lea.

It was strange just to even think about it, as Heartless never had this much trouble adding soldiers to their own ranks prior to - well - whatever the heck was going on now, though that might have had something to do with some of the other irregularities of these so-called "new" worlds. Unlike most of the worlds they had encountered, these "new" worlds seemed to exist within realms of their own, neither connected via the Lanes Between nor the Corridors of Darkness. It was only happenstance that the two of them figured out how to access these "Worlds Beyond."

"You think those hearts we're releasing are going back to their original bodies?"

"I'd like to think so," said Riku. "Let's just keep moving."

"Whatever you say. You're the one with the keyblade, after all."

His partner glanced back, but then continued moving forward.

 _How do we even know we're going the right way?_

A few minutes later, they saw a flicker of light among the trees past the left wall.

Riku raised his finger up, and then shifted over to the wall.

After an exchange of gestures, the two of them ascended the wall.

On the other side, they found a youth wearing an over-sized shirt and shades. He turned his flashlight toward the two fighters, and briefly took a moment to wipe his shades.

"Those are some mad skills you've got there. Not many people can jump over those walls in one go."

The boy extended his hand to them.

"The name's Buck Dewey. You guys from another planet or dimension or something?"

"Sorta," said Riku.

"Cool." Buck briefly glanced past them. "So what was going on up there?"

"Heartless."

"Oh, so that's like gem stuff, right?"

The two warriors glanced at each other, and then turned back towards the native.

"Yeah. Sorta like that," Riku responded.

"That's cool."

"You see anything unusual around here?" asked Lea.

"Aside from the aurora, blackout, and giant meteor shower, not really. This stuff's kinda normal around here. Usually the Gems take care of stuff before everything gets out of hand."

"Alright," said Riku, "we'll be sure to pay them a visit."

"Yeah," said Buck, "I better get back to my dad before he realizes I've gone missing."

"Mind if we come with?" Lea asked.

"Oh sure, by all means. By the way, I don't think I ever got your names."

"Riku." The boy planted his fist into his chest. "And this…"

"The name's Lea, got it memorized?"

* * *

 **A/N: I considered waiting until the last possible moment to reveal Lea and Riku's names, but the writing just looked awkward when I tried obscuring their identities. But yeah, it should be apparent by this point that stuff's kinda different. Anyway, be sure to stay tuned for more stuff to come!**


	3. Keyblades and Heartless

Shortly after dropping Steven's dad off at the house, Connie, Steven, and Pearl heard the sound of gunfire within the city.

"We gotta hurry!" said Steven.

On command, Lion increased his pace, and then conjured up a portal in front of the group.

They exited at the west corner of Sussex and Fenton. Although there didn't seem to be as many of the strange creatures as they had encountered near Greg's car wash, there was a fairly sizable cluster of them gathered near one of the houses across the street.

"Oh no, Onion!"

A few of the creatures turned towards the Gems when Pearl shined her light upon them, though most of them still focused their attention towards Onion's residence.

A few of the weaponless knights began to stride into the open garage.

 _ **-POW!-POW!-POW!-**_

Although the shots initially just pushed the soldiers back, by the time the third shot hit, they had all poofed into nothingness.

"There's no way I'm letting you get your filthy hands on my boys!"

Most of the other creatures, comprised of a mixture of basic shadows, soldiers, beak-copters, and a few air-horn like things, continued shuffling around in the middle of the street, though some began to disperse out a bit.

"I'll take care of this."

Pearl stepped forward and then blasted several shots at the group ahead.

 _ **-BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOM!-**_

About a third of the swarm had been cleared out, causing many of them to spread out after witnessing Pearl's firepower. Some of the air-horns began to levitate up into the air and began making honk-like noises, though they did not appear to have any visible effect.

Down the street, they saw a pair of headlights turn in from Crawford, which first sped up before stopping two houses down from Onion's house.

"Who's that?" asked Connie.

As the light shined down on them, some of the shadow beings closer to the car turned towards it.

Upon a closer inspection, it appeared to be Jenny Pizza.

"Steven," she said, standing up from where she was, "you guys okay?"

"Yeah!" said Steven as he jumped off Lion. Connie followed suit.

"What are those things?"

"We're not sure. We think they might be gems."

"Less talk, more taking care of whatever these things are!" Pearl said as she slashed through one of the soldiers that came close.

"Well, looks like you've got things under control there!"

Jenny returned back into her seat.

"Let's take care of this one, Steven!" Connie said as she pointed to one of the air-horns hiding beside Onion's house.

"Okay!"

The two of them ran up towards it, and in a series of swift swipes, the creature dissipated. Steven bubbled the heart that emerged and then sent it away. They probably could've taken up what was left of the mob in the street, but Connie didn't want either of them getting blasted apart by shotgun pellets.

A few moments later, and all of the creatures within the immediate area were gone.

"Alright," said Steven, "let's see if Onion and the others are okay."

By the time Steven, Connie, and Pearl gathered up in front of the house, Vidalia emerged with a shotgun in hand, followed by her sons Sour Cream and Onion, who were holding a metal bat and crowbar respectively.

"Thanks for helping us out," said Vidalia.

"Yeah," said Sour Cream, "way to go guys."

"Don't sweat it," said Pearl.

"We were just hoping you guys were alright," said Steven.

Vidalia glanced among the three of them, and then turned towards Connie, "Have we met?"

"Connie."

"Name's Vidalia, and these are my boys, Sour Cream and Onion," she said, gesturing to each one respectively.

As this all was going on, Jenny drove closer in her Pizza-styled car, stopping just before one of the craters that had been formed from Pearl's energy blasts, "Yo, Sour Cream!"

"Whassup?" he responded. "Your folks having problems with these things too?"

"Well, there were a couple near the shop, but most of 'em just flat out ignored us."

"Huh, weird."

"Well," said Vidalia, "anyway… it's Pearl, right?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, we were holding off those things pretty well before you guys came. Turns out my boys here are pretty good fighters, and once we cleared those things out of the house, well, they weren't getting past me."

 _Too bad Steven's dad wasn't so lucky._

Onion walked up to Steven and tugged on his arm.

"What is it Onion?" he asked.

Onion briefly looked down, and then began to head into the open garage.

"Is it about that DVD you gave me?"

Onion turned around, and nodded.

"What about it?"

Onion glanced around, and then paced around a bit before finally pointing up in the sky.

Steven, Connie, and Pearl looked up.

"Are you saying it came from outer space?"

Onion briefly closed his eyes and crossed his arms in contemplation. After a short pause, he released his arms, and nodded in affirmation.

"But… that can't be right," said Pearl.

Right at that moment, a loud scream came from behind Vidalia's residence, _"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"_

"It sounds like Lars is in danger!" said Steven.

"You guys go ahead and do your thing," said Jenny. "I'm gonna check to see if Buck's alright. Sour Cream, you want in?"

"Heck yeah!"

Sour Cream jumped into Jenny's Pizza-mobile, which rapidly sped up and swerved past the potholes now lining the street.

As Steven, Connie, Pearl, and Lion began crossing into Vidalia's back yard, they saw Lars's house rapidly going up in flames.

"LARS!" they heard Sadie say some distance away.

Once through, they saw Lars and his parents running away from a red-dressed wizard-pod, which was hurling fireballs towards them.

"Can't somebody so something about this thing?" shouted Lars's dad.

This one shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Connie leaped onto the sidewalk, and Pearl began rushing towards the pod.

When Connie noticed Steven hadn't gotten off Lion, she turned back, only to hear him say, "I'm gonna see if Lapis and Peridot can help with putting out these flames."

"Good thinking, Steven!"

As Steven and Lion exited through a portal, Connie readied her sword. Pearl attempted to slice her weapon through the pod up ahead, but it drifted out of reach when she got close.

At around this time, Sadie's mom exited her house.

"Sadie, what's going… what in the world…."

Pearl swept several more times at the wizard-pod, though it evaded each attack.

"How are you so fast?" Pearl seethed.

Connie ran around to intercept the pod as it floated back, but when she attempted to swipe through it, the pod drifted up, just out of her reach.

"Connie, be careful!"

"Sorry!"

The two of them then turned back towards the pod, which now drifted down the street.

Barbara began running up behind it.

As the pod turned to face her, she swiftly grasped it out of the air and then slammed it into the pavement.

"Gotcha!"

"How did she…" Pearl said in shock.

While pressing the creature into the ground, Sadie's mom repeatedly slammed her fist into the creature's body, causing it to make a squish-like noise with each impact.

"Take this! And this!"

With each punch, the creature made a small, squish-like noise, though overall it did not seem harmed by Barbara's attacks. Occasionally a slight, sun-like light tried to manifest on the top of the pod's hat, though each punch seemed to interrupt the creature's spell.

"This is what you get for trying to ruin _my_ city!"

Although about a minute or so had passed, the creature didn't look anywhere near close to being dead.

"I think that's enough mom," said Sadie.

"Nonsense! Just look at this thing!"

Connie and the others began to approach Barbara as she kept walloping on the creature.

"Um, Barbara," said Pearl, "could you keep holding it down for us?"

"I don't think your punches are doing anything to it," said Sadie.

"Oh, alright." Barbara looked a bit dejected as she said this.

She continued holding the creature down as its bird-like feet struggled from underneath the pod's cloak.

Since Connie was the closest, she raised Rose's sword up, and then struck it through the pod. Pearl bubbled the heart that came out soon after.

"Thank goodness you guys are here!" said Lars's mom.

"What the heck is going on around here?" Lars screamed. "What was that thing?"

"We're still not sure," Pearl responded.

"Also, where's Steven?"

"He ran off to get someone who can help put out this fire," said Connie.

 _Though if he's taking this long, there's probably trouble at the barn as well._

"Well why not just call the fire department?" asked Lars's mom.

"The phones lines aren't working!" said Lars.

"Yeah," said Sadie, "and knowing Steven, this way's…"

 _ **MAYOR DEWEY! MAYOR DEWEY! MAYOR DEWEY!**_

At that very moment, they all heard the dreaded incantation of Mayor Dewey's van coming from the west side of Beach City. Far in the distance, a pair of headlights came swerving in from the end of Waterman Street, though it was approaching much faster than the mayor's cumbersome van should have been able to travel.

Everyone ran to the sides of the street.

Connie then saw Lion leap out from a portal on the beach, with Steven, Lapis and Peridot mounted on the beast's back.

Peridot jumped off almost immediately, swinging the heavy end of a vacuum left and right upon landing.

"Alright, where are those charcoal-manufactured, hologram-gem-imitating clods?"

Lapis also spoke, though she was a bit harder to hear. Shortly after, however, she dismounted from Lion, and channeled a large stream of water over Lars's house, before engulfing it entirely.

"Our house…" said Lars's dad.

By this point, Jenny's car had driven up close to the group, and Mayor Dewey's van could now be seen further down the street.

Although Connie was able to recognize Buck Dewey and Sour Cream from before, there were two new individuals sitting in the back seat besides Buck Dewey. One of them, sitting behind Jenny, had short, somewhat silvery hair and deep blue eyes, and seemed to be wearing a white vest. The other man, whose arms stretched around the two men beside him, wore his hair out long and spiky. Like the other strange boy beside him, he also had deep bluish eyes.

As everyone but Jenny exited the pizza-mobile, Connie heard Steven and Peridot approach behind her.

"Sorry for the delay," said Steven, "but there more of those things near the barn."

His attention turned to the new individuals.

"Say, I don't think I ever got your names."

"Don't worry, Steven. They're cool," said Buck.

Now that the four teenagers were standing outside Jenny's car, it was easier to see the new figures in person. Although slightly shorter, the silver-haired boy seemed much more physically imposing, especially with his well-developed physique and bulging biceps. He also seemed much more determined and focused than his partner, holding his arms firm while his partner adopted a more relaxed pose.

The silver-haired boy spoke first, "So you're Steven?"

"Yeah," said Steven. "Anyway, this is Connie, Pearl, Lion, Lars, Peridot…"

Steven continued introducing everyone within the area to the newcomers until he was finished, gesturing to each one in turn.

"Lapis is busy doing her own thing, but she'll be with us shortly."

It was at this point that Connie noticed that the mayor's van was no longer playing its monotonous tune, and was just parked a few dozen feet away from the group.

At this time, Lapis also began to retract her stream back into the ocean.

"Well," said the white-vested boy, "this is Lea."

"Hey!" Lea planted his wrists on his hips.

"And I'm Riku."

Riku glanced at each of the gems, and then briefly took notice of Connie's sword before turning towards Pearl.

"I take it you're the Crystal Gems?"

"Sort of…" said Pearl, turning her head to the side.

"Well what do you mean?" said Lea.

"Well," said Connie, "not all of us are here."

"Yeah," said Lapis as she walked toward the group, "where is Garnet and Amethyst anyway?"

"Uh, about that…" said Pearl.

"Well," Steven spoke up, "Amethyst is back at the temple to protect it from those shadow things."

"You mean the Heartless?" Riku interrupted.

"I guess so?" Steven paused. "Why are they called Heartless anyway?"

"They're beings devoid entirely of emotion, drawing from the darkness that lies deep within peoples hearts," Lea explained. "Though lately, they've been having trouble with that last part."

"But that doesn't explain why they're called Heartless," said Connie. "If those things that came out of them are supposed to be 'hearts,' then wouldn't it make sense to…"

Riku and Lea jolted back a bit upon hearing this.

" _You_ have a keyblade?" Lea uttered.

"A what now?" Connie replied.

Riku shook his head and then uprighted himself. "A keyblade."

He held his right hand out, and a strange, shadowy weapon materialized in his hand. A demonic wing seemed to form the weapon's main blade, with an angelic wing attached near the tip. Another set of wings formed the sword's guard. A black, heart-club sigil, similar to the emblems etched onto the Heartless, was joined to the sword's pommel via an inflexible chain.

As Connie examined the sword, she couldn't imagine just why anyone would call this thing a keyblade.

"That…"

"Keyblades generally don't look like that," said Lea. "Usually, they're supposed to look like actual keys. Got that…"

"Do you have one?" asked Connie.

Lea shrugged. "I wish. That's part of the reason I'm even on this adventure."

Connie briefly lifted up Rose's sword before her. "I think I saw this turn into something like that, if only for a second."

"Hmm…" Lea adopted a "thinker-like" pose. "Well that explains a few things."

"What do you mean?" asked Steven.

"I don't think these things can be destroyed by anything that doesn't involve magical gem stuff or whatever these guys got," said Sadie.

"You sure?" asked Sour Cream. "Cause we didn't have any problems with these Heartless or whatever they're called."

"You mean your family, right?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah."

"Huh," Lea remarked.

Riku briefly eyed the other white-haired teen, but chose not to comment.

"Well," said Jenny, "dad's probably wondering where I've been at, so I'm gonna head back to the shop for a sec. See y'all soon!"

After everyone had backed away from the car, Jenny drove off with the Pizza-mobile.

"Ahem!"

At the sound, everyone turned to face Mayor Dewey, who had been standing behind most of the group up until this point.

The mayor walked up to Riku and Lea and offered to shake their hands, to which they awkwardly accepted. "Gentlemen, once again I thank you for fixing whatever was wrong with th campaign vehicle. I've been listening in on this conversation so far…"

"Dad!" said Buck.

"Not now, son! But, anyway, what does this stuff about keyblades have to do with our current crisis?"

Sour Cream began to speak, "Haven't you been…"

"I'm not talking about these so-called Heartless! What about this blackout? If we don't solve this soon, people are going to riot! I don't want to have to wait another day for everything to return back to the way it was!"

"You sure…" Lea began.

"Whoa dad, why don't you just chill out for a second?" said Buck Dewey. "I'm sure the Gems and these new guys have got things covered."

"You're right," Mayor Dewey groaned.

The two newcomers seemed to contemplate to themselves, until Riku stepped forward and approached Steven.

"By the way, have you seen any of our friends by any chance?"

"I don't think so?" said Steven.

"What might they look like?" asked Pearl.

"Guess not," said Riku.

"If you're wondering," Lea added, "it's Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Always in that order. Got it memorized?"

"Yes," said Pearl, "but what do they look like?"

"Well, Sora's a keyblade wielder like our friend here, Donald's a duck, and Goofy's… well Goofy."

"Okay…? I guess that's helpful?"

"You'll know them when you see them," said Riku.

"We'll keep an eye out for them," said Steven. "By the way, do you guys think you could help out with something?"

"What do you have in mind?" asked Lea.

"Well, you see, something happened to our friend, Garnet, and since you guys and those things seem to be from some other world or dimension, I figured…"

"How do you know this?" asked Riku.

"It's kinda obvious," said Connie.

"Yeah," said Steven. "Anyway, Garnet started getting all these sparks when the aurora happened, and then she mentioned something about having these visions…"

Riku suddenly snapped forward. "What did she say?"

"I don't know. She said… I'm not sure, but she told me she didn't want me doing something. Whatever it was, I can't ask her anymore now that she's out cold like this."

Lea turned to his partner, "Do you think?"

"Did something happen?" asked Connie.

"Yeah…"

Riku briefly eyed the people surrounding them.

"Lea, I'm going to need you to watch over these people while I explain things to the Gems."

"Aww… I don't get to share my part of the story?" Lea responded.

"Sorry. Just see if you can find someplace safe for them to go."

"Now hold on just a minute!" said Mayor Dewey. "As mayor of this city, it is within my right to know just what is going on!"

"Yeah man," said Buck. "That ain't cool."

"Trust us," said Lea. "It's for your own good."

"Just what is so important that it needs to be kept a secret from all of us?" said Barbara.

"Could we all just be quiet for one second?" Pearl shouted.

Everyone began to quiet down.

"Thank you. Now look, I don't quite know everything that's going on, but if these boys think there's something so important that they can't share it right here, then there's probably a reason for it."

"Yeah," said Steven, "and if it turns out it's not so bad, then we can just tell everyone tomorrow."

"Sounds fine by me," said Sadie.

"I just want this nightmare to be over," lamented Lars.

"Well said," said Mayor Dewey, who began clapping.

He looked to the others, though no one else clapped along with him.

"So, party at my house, anyone?" Sour Cream suggested.

"Sounds good to me," said Buck.

As several people began to follow Sour Cream, including Lea, Riku turned back to Steven and the Gems and said, "Seems that worked out."

"Can we go home now?" asked Lapis.

"I guess?" Steven replied. "But this stuff sounds kind of important."

"Eh, whatever. I can learn about it tomorrow."

As Lapis began to head off, she stopped, and spun back around.

"Actually, forget about that. I'm coming with."

"I would also like to accompany you so that I may examine the workings of these sub-space compacting instruments," said Peridot.

"So, I guess we're all heading back?" asked Connie.

"Looks like it. To the Beach House everyone!"

* * *

Minutes later, they all arrived at the front of Steven's residence, though they stopped a few times to clear out the deserters in the area. Connie still wasn't sure whether it was alright to attack them, though they were surprisingly aggressive after being attacked.

After Steven knocked, Amethyst got up and answered the door. "You guys finally came back."

"Yeah," said Connie, "it took a while."

Further into the house, Steven's dad was lying on the couch behind the table.

As everyone began entering the house, Greg quickly got up and said, "Hey, Steven! Wait, who's that?"

"This is Riku," Steven said, gesturing to the larger boy.

"Wow, you look like you've worked out quite a bit."

When he got close, Greg took a moment to admire Riku's muscles, occasionally squeezing them with his hands.

"Is this normal?" asked Riku.

"I dunno," said Steven. "I don't think I've ever seen my dad do that before."

"Wha… Oh! Sorry about that!" said Steven's dad. "It's just I've never seen anyone so buff before."

"Just don't do that too often." Riku turned up towards Steven's room. "I take it that's Garnet?"

"Yep, that's her alright," said Amethyst. "I'm Amethyst by the way."

"I've heard."

Riku's eyes glanced back at Amethyst, though they then looked over to the kitchen area.

"So what was this thing you were going to tell us?" asked Pearl.

"Right."

Moving past Amethyst and Peridot, Riku went over to the kitchen and positioned himself behind the mini-bar.

"Everyone come over here for a second."

Everyone else began swarming around the counter, with Steven, Connie, and Peridot occupying the three stools.

While this was going on, Riku began to fish something out of his pockets, which appeared to be some sort of gold-ringed coaster from Connie's perspective.

"Have a look at this."

 _ **-CLUNK!-**_

Everyone leaned in to see the strange disk now resting on the countertop.

"Huh?" uttered Steven's dad.

"What is that?" asked Amethyst.

"Do any of you recognize this symbol?" asked Riku.

"Not really," said Lapis.

Peridot reached over and grabbed the strange metal object. "Hmm… this is a most peculiar symbolic representation if I've ever seen one. It does seem to adhere to the basic principles of symmetry... Hold on..."

As the green gem continued examining the emblem, Connie tried leaning over the counter to get a better look at it, though it was still difficult to see.

"Could I see that?" asked Steven.

"Fine."

Peridot reluctantly passed the disk over to Steven, who then pushed it toward the center of the counter.

The design, outlined in gold, featured a wide, head-like shape in its center, with two curving, tube-like ears jutting out from opposite sides. A large "S" cut through the middle, bisecting the head in two. A green, rubbery material sat in each of the gaps, separated by the gold extending out of the emblem's base.

"Something about this symbol seems oddly familiar," Pearl remarked.

"It almost looks like those symbols that were on the Heartless," said Steven.

"Wait a minute…"

Connie took the emblem from Steven.

"Doesn't this look like Princess Fiona?"

"Princess… Fiona?" Riku said, puzzled.

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Steven.

"Now that you think of it," said Pearl, "this design does look a lot like her."

"Well, minus the hair and tiara," Connie added. "It's even got the same shade of green."

"Yeah," said Amethyst, "but what does the 'S' stand for?"

"I have no idea," Connie replied.

Steven turned towards Riku, "Can you tell us?"

"I will. However, there are a few things you need to hear beforehand."

In a flash of light, Riku once again summoned his keyblade.

"The keyblade. This is what we use to fight against the Heartless. It has the power to lock or unlock any door, even those to people's hearts."

"That sounds… powerful," remarked Pearl.

"Yes, and there are some who have abused its power, but only those with a strong heart can wield them."

"What kind of weapon would have such a strange and arbitrary requirement?" questioned Peridot. "Surely the attributes required to use this device could be redefined into more quantifiable terms."

Riku paused before responding, "I'm not sure how to answer that."

"You don't know?"

"Peridot," said Lapis, "let's just continue listening to what the boy has to say."

"Alright, alright," Peridot grumbled.

"As I was about to say, most people don't have the heart to wield these things, so usually you won't find them that often. That all changed just recently."

"What do you mean?" asked Connie.

"One day, our friend DiZ, I mean Ansem, came back from the Realm of Darkness. An army of keyblade warriors was assembling by the thousands. The Realm of Darkness doesn't take kindly to strangers either, but these wielders somehow found a way to resist the darkness. At first, there were just a few of them, but more and more of them kept coming as time went on.

"A keyblade master, Aqua, was down there with him, and yet three of these warriors were enough to defeat her. I don't know how Ansem managed to escape from that place, but he did, and that's what matters.

"That's about when Yen Sid called us to his tower, and explained everything there. At first, he thought this had something to do with Master Xehanort, but then he claimed that these keyblade warriors were from another realm entirely. I can't remember his exact reasoning but it had something to do with 'not having the necessary components.'

"Strange things started happening all around us. Worlds started disappearing even though they had already been locked. Books that had never been written started appearing out of nowhere. Even the Heartless were starting to thin out.

"We tried preparing for when the keyblade army would storm into the Realm of Light. Everyone had their assigned tasks, though I was to remain with Yen Sid until we relocated to Castle Oblivion. Sora, Donald, and Goofy went out to ensure the Princesses of Light remained safe, but they never came back. They're probably long gone by this point."

"Oh…" said Steven.

"So what does this…" Connie began to speak.

"I guess I've been talking too much, so let me get to the point," Riku continued. "I had to fight against one of those warriors when they tried to attack one of our strongholds. It was a tough fight."

Riku then tapped the emblem on the counter. "This was found on the warrior's suit of armor. One of our scientists, Even, tried to extract the memories from this warrior so we could learn more about who was behind this, but… that's when things started to go bad."

"How bad?" Steven asked.

Riku then pointed to Garnet's lifeless body. "Take a look at your friend over there."

Steven, Pearl, Lapis, Greg, and Connie looked over at Garnet.

"You mean…" Connie began.

"Something like that happened to Even, but when he got up, he… wasn't quite the same."

"Well, what was he like before all that?" asked Amethyst, now sprawled all over the floor.

"Different, that's for sure. He usually knew what he was talking about, but after that… he started becoming obsessed."

"Obsessed about what?" asked Greg.

Riku held up the emblem, and then looked at it. "A name. First, it was just that one word, but then every word of _his_ became contorted to reflect this new obsession. It was almost as if, by saying _his_ name, Even was trying to summon _him._ Whenever we tried to question him about it, he would lash out at us, until we finally had to do him in. The things he did to satisfy his… _devotion…_ are not the kind of things anyone would want to see in their own lifetime."

Riku then flipped the emblem so that the design was visible to everyone.

"I know what the 'S' on this emblem stands for, because I heard Even call out that name seven million times too many, the same name the warrior called out when I fought against him. Listen carefully, for the name I am about to say should not be taken lightly.

"For you see, the 'S' outlined on here stands for Shrek, the one they call their 'Ogrelord.'

"I may not know who he is, but whoever he is, he's the one behind all this."

* * *

 **A/N: Remember how I said this was a crack fic at the beginning?**

 **This is why.**

 **Anyway, I hope you're still all here after that huge trainwreck. That infodump took way too long to write, as I wasn't sure how to best relay all that information. This chapter might have been kinda rushed, and I'm sorry about the massive infodump, but I kinda felt I had to get it out of the way. Not sure I explained stuff well enough either.**

 **Also not sure if I handled all the characters all that well, especially since there's so many of them in the same place at once.**

 **Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed that chapter. Be sure to comment/pm me if you have any questions or stuff. Also _Shrek_ is property of Dreamworks and stuff though most people should know that already. Probably will make a final disclaimer or something at the end of this fic (if I get to it), though I'll probably mention stuff here and there.**


	4. Once Upon a Time

"Shrek?" uttered Amethyst, "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…! Are you serious? What kind of name is that?"

"This isn't a game!" shouted Riku. "The threat he presents is very much real."

"You know," said Connie, "that show we were watching earlier did mention something about an ogre knight in shining armor. Do you guys think Shrek is that knight?"

"What are you people talking about?" asked Amethyst.

"Yeah, what is this Princess Fiona and Shrek stuff?" said Steven's dad.

Steven turned to the others and said, "We were watching this show earlier about this superhero, Giantdad. Originally, it was about Giantdad's battle against Count Dracula and his minions, but then it turns out that Princess Fiona was supposed to be the rightful ruler of the city that Giantdad's from."

"Where the heck did you guys even find this show?" asked Greg.

"Onion gave it to me."

"And you think this Princess Fiona person is somehow… connected?" said Riku.

"It does look like her," said Connie as she acquired the emblem.

Riku, whose keyblade had been dispelled some time ago, crossed his arms together, "Tell me more."

"Well," said Connie, "Princess Fiona was the next in line to the throne of Far, Far Away Kingdom, but even though her parents were human, she was born as an ogre."

"And ogres aren't allowed to have happy endings," Steven interrupted.

"Sounds like a fairy tale if you ask me," said Riku.

"Yeah, that's basically what it is," Connie replied.

"So anyway," said Steven, "the Fairy Godmother gave Fiona this magic potion that would allow her to become human…"

" _The_ Fairy Godmother?" Riku interrupted.

"I guess…?" said Connie.

"But anyway," Steven continued, "it only worked during the daytime without receiving her True Love's First Kiss. So, the Fairy Godmother had Princess Fiona locked up in this castle guarded by this evil fire-breathing dragon so that her true love could save her."

"Wait, I'm confused," said Riku.

"About what?" asked Steven.

"Yeah," said Lapis, "it makes sense to me."

"We're talking about the same Fairy Godmother here, right?" asked Riku.

"Why, you know someone like that?" said Steven.

"I do, actually."

"Huh," uttered Connie.

"And here I thought that show was a whole bunch of nonsense," said Pearl. "Well, shows what I know."

"The plot is kinda cliche, honestly," said Connie.

"I still don't think the Fairy Godmother I know would do something like that," Riku thought aloud.

"Whatever," said Amethyst. "It's not like this other Fairy Godmother even exists anyway. It's a freaking cartoon show for crying out loud!"

"Well, technically, it's a fairy tale told inside a cartoon show," Connie added.

"Who cares?" Amethyst slammed herself back onto the floor. "I just want this night to be over with."

"I wonder…" Riku uttered. "How does the rest of the story go?"

"Well," said Connie, "the Fairy Godmother originally intended for her son, Prince Charming, to rescue her, but she was rescued by an ogre and donkey instead."

"You mean… Shrek," Riku turned aside as he said this.

"Hold up," said Peridot, "what does a donkey have to do with this over-elaborate fairy tale anyway?"

"He was just sorta… there," Connie said, for lack of a better word.

"After that," continued Steven, "The Fairy Godmother kidnapped Shrek and locked him up in this dungeon, and Princess Fiona was never seen from again."

"For some reason," Connie added, "I get the feeling this story was supposed to be based on something else, but I can't for the life of me remember where I've heard it before."

"Can someone remind me what any of this has to do with anything?" Pearl asked.

"I think it might give us clues as to the nature of this Shrek character," said Riku, "though that still doesn't explain how he was able to amass such a large and powerful army of keyblade wielders."

"Maybe we'll be able to find some more clues by watching the rest of that show," said Steven, "and I get the feeling Onion might know something too."

"Onion…" said Riku. "I think that was one of the other words Even and that soldier seemed obsessed about."

"It might also have something to do with why Sour Cream, Onion, and Vidalia were able to fend off those Heartless while everyone else was having trouble," Steven suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous, Steven," Pearl said as she planted her hands on her hips.

"Perhaps it might be worthwhile to test this theory in practice," said Peridot.

"Not you too, Peridot!"

"You are in possession of this multi-layered, bulbous vegetable, correct?"

Riku cringed as he heard Peridot speak, though the green gem did not seem to take notice of his reaction.

"Something wrong, Riku?" asked Steven.

"It's… nothing," said the silver-haired boy.

"Well?" asked Peridot.

"Probably in the fridge," said Amethyst, lying on the floor.

"I'm glad at least one of us is willing to be of assistance," Peridot climbed down from her stool and made way for the refrigerator.

There was a pause as Peridot shuffled through its contents.

Steven looked up, "You said that these keyblades have the power to open the doors to people's hearts, right?"

"Sorta," said Riku.

"Hmm… I really wish I could help Garnet out, but then I just remembered what you said about your friend."

"He wasn't that much of a friend, per say, but still, what happened to him was unfortunate."

"Found it!" Peridot proclaimed while holding up a large onion with her small hands.

As the green gem struggled to bring the onion up to the counter, Connie thought she noticed a peculiarly strange stench.

"Have they always smelled like that?" Connie asked.

"I don't smell anything," said Steven.

"Me neither," said Lapis.

"Let me see that."

Riku reached down to grab the onion out of Peridot's hands, and then sniffed it.

Riku cringed.

"I think you should put it back for now."

"But I wanted to test out my idea as to whether or not…"

"Maybe you should listen to him for now," said Connie.

"Fine!"

Peridot stored the onion back into the fridge and then slammed the door shut.

"So what do we do now?" asked Steven.

"I'm not sure myself," said Riku. "The best we can do for now is to clear out as many Heartless as we can. Those keyblade wielders are going to find us eventually, but I don't think they'll attack you unless you get in their way."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?"

"I wish, but if those keyblade warriors were enough to take down a full-fledged keyblade master, then I don't see how you'd stand much of a chance."

"Well maybe if we understood a bit more about their fighting style, then maybe we might be able to help," said Pearl.

"Can't really say for sure since I only fought against one of them," said Riku. "They might not have all that much health, but don't be fooled. They're tough. They're fast. They're patient. They will dodge out of the way of almost every attack you make unless you are certain your attack will hit. If you let down your guard for even a second, they will go all out on you before you even get a chance to retaliate. Almost every time I tried to unleash one of my stronger attacks, he countered with almost perfect precision."

"How did you win?" asked Connie.

"Luck I suppose. Even with the cards on my side, I only won by a sliver of health. If it wasn't for the Castle, I don't think I would have stood a chance.

"I've heard some of them can wield the power of darkness without being affected by it, though I haven't seen it myself. It's likely I wasn't fighting that warrior at full strength, so I might not have seen the full extent of his powers."

Amethyst suddenly let out a great yawn, "Man am I tired."

"Yeah," Steven yawned, "it's getting kinda late."

Riku crossed his arms and sighed. "We might as well discuss more of this later; I've talked long enough already."

"Wait," said Peridot, "I would still like to discover the process for manufacturing these keyblades!"

"I don't really have a good answer to your question," said Riku. "Some of the stronger blades can be forged by bringing certain hearts together, but that's not a road you want to go down on. Keyblades aren't exactly things you can manufacture, and even if you found some way to make them on your own, you might not be able to use them."

"And why is that?"

"Like I said before, only those with a strong heart can wield them." Riku briefly looked around at everyone else. "Well, I must get going."

"You could stay here with us if you'd like, Riku," said Steven.

"Yeah," said Connie, "where will you sleep?"

"I can take care of myself on my own. Besides, I've still got to check back up on Lea. Anyway, it was nice knowing you."

Taking the Ogrelord's Sigil back into his possession, Riku made his way for the door.

Once it was open, the boy briefly turned back around and said, "Be sure to keep an eye on your friend over there. There's no telling what she might do once she wakes up."

"Got it," said Amethyst.

"Bye, Riku!" Steven waved.

Once the boy was out of sight, Pearl cleared her throat and said, "Speaking of which, Connie, we need to get you back to your parents."

"Oh my gosh!" said Connie, "I almost completely forgot about that!"

"Eh, whatever," said Amethyst. "They'll probably understand."

"I just hope they're safe."

"Oh right!" exclaimed Steven, "What are we doing here? We gotta help them!"

The boy leaped from his seat and sped towards the door, taking Connie by the hand.

"Wait, Steven, not so fast!"

* * *

After about another hour or so teleporting across Beach City and speaking with everybody, Steven Universe was finally certain that the Heartless no longer threatened the city's inhabitants, at least for the time being. Steven now lay exhausted atop Lion's fur, just barely cognizant of the leaps and jumps his steed took as it strode across the city.

He heard a door open.

"Steven," he heard Pearl say, "you're back! You really shouldn't…"

"So… tired…"

As Lion edged his way into the Beach House, Steven rolled off the beast's back, and fell asleep right there on the floor.

* * *

Steven found himself soaring through an endless blue sky with no land in sight. Clouds drifted all around him, though many remained out of reach even when he tried making his way towards them.

Even here, the boy felt strangely tired.

"It sure is a nice day out today," Steven remarked. "But where is everyone?"

"Good morning, Steven!"

Almost as if on cue, Steven heard a voice.

"Hello?" Steven called out.

Something about the voice seemed familiar, though he could not quite remember where he had heard that voice before.

"Over here, kid!"

Steven turned towards the voice. The bright, glowing gleam of the sun shined in his face, though it was not bright enough to blind him.

"Uncle Grandpa?"

The memories slowly began to return to him as he gazed upon Uncle Grandpa's hideous mug, which now took the guise of the morning sun.

"Yup," said Uncle Grandpa, "it's me, Steven."

"What brings you here, Uncle Grandpa?" Steven asked.

"Just thought I'd stop over for a visit."

"Oh, okay." Steven glanced across the skies. "Where is everyone else?"

A second head of Uncle Grandpa popped out from underneath Steven's shirt. "Don't worry kid, they're safe in my RV."

"Well," said Steven, "that's good to know."

Steven glanced from side to side, holding his arms crossed as he tapped his foot on an invisible floor. The second head seemed to have disappeared, though Steven took no note of it.

"Say, do you think you could help me out with something?"

"Sure!" said Uncle Grandpa. "What do you need helping out with, Steven?"

"Well, something happened to one of my friends. We're not sure if there's any way to get her back to normal, so I was just wondering if maybe…"

Steven stopped for a second. The more he thought about it, the more unusual he found Uncle Grandpa's existence, as if he was trying to worm his way into Steven's mind.

"Wait a second, I thought you said that episode wasn't supposed to be canon!"

 _Wait, did I just say that?_

The words seemed to spill from Steven's mouth beyond his control. Nothing about what he said even remotely resembled what he was thinking. Why did he even say that in the first place, and why did he say it like he was talking about something on TV?

The sky suddenly grew still and dark, and the cool breeze washing over Steven just seconds ago turned warm, humid, and stagnant like a bog or swamp.

Far in the distance, Uncle Grandpa's face no longer glowed with the sun's life and radiance.

Steven found himself staring at Uncle Grandpa's dry, crusty lips, unable to look away. Even though the man had to have been at least a million miles away, Steven could see nothing but Uncle Grandpa's face, the upper half of which was now concealed in a curtain of shadow.

"Oh Steven, wherever did you get that idea?"

Steven swept his arms about. He could no longer see, hear, or feel anything that was immediately around him other than the oversized head of Uncle Grandpa looming in the distance. Uncle Grandpa's appearance wasn't all that unsettling on its own, but something about the way his lips cracked and moved filled the boy with dread.

"Wha…? No! That's not what I was trying to say! I was just…"

A deep chuckle rumbled across the sky.

Uncle Grandpa's voice suddenly deepened, carrying with it a certain malign intelligence.

"You don't get it, do you boy? Do you really think your precious canon can remain undefiled for so long without consequence?

"The universes may carry on with their own little games, but only one truth remains constant throughout...

" _ **EVERYTHING IS CANON!"**_

As Uncle Grandpa's dark, demonic laughter rang throughout the universe, Steven could once more see the entirety of Uncle Grandpa's face, though it now barely resembled the friendly mentor from before. His eyes had vanished from their sockets, leaving nothing but shriveled skin and exposed tissue underneath. Scabs appeared where they weren't there before, and Uncle Grandpa's skin took on a strange, porous, rot-like quality sickening to the eyes. Maggots began to fester and multiply underneath, occasionally breaching through the surface to create even more sickening, pus-filled holes in Uncle Grandpa's skin, though somehow these holes seemed to repair themselves on their own. Blood welled up within Uncle Grandpa's gaping mouth and then spilled forth from the sides, carrying with it a steady stream of browned, rotting teeth.

Steven could only watch in horror as all this played before his eyes, unable to draw his eyes away due to some strange, magical force.

"No!" Steven screamed, "I didn't mean any of that! This is just a dream! This is just…"

" _ **THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THIS HELL! ONCE ALL THE PIECES HAVE COME TOGETHER, ALL WORLDS SHALL BE ENGULFED IN DARKNESS AND TOTAL OBLIVION! GEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA…!"**_

"Must… look… away…"

Just for a split second, Steven was able to close his eyes and turn away from the giant head looming in the now apocalyptic sky. He tried swimming away, but felt himself being pulled back as if Uncle Grandpa's mouth was some giant vacuum.

" _ **YOU CANNOT ESCAPE WHAT HAS BEEN FORETOLD BY PROPHECY!"**_

Steven tried swimming harder and harder, trying to imagine things that might aid him in his escape. But it was no use.

"Somebody… anybody…"

"Steven…"

"Huh?"

Steven shook his head and then looked up, where he saw a giant version of Garnet's hand reaching out toward him. The sky around him also seemed to turn a bubbly shade of pink.

"Garnet?"

Even though the hand was clearly visible, Steven couldn't see anything beyond Garnet's forearm.

"Steven, take my hand."

Although Steven wasn't sure whether he was safe from Uncle Grandpa's demented designs, Garnet's voice seemed to drown out the old man's hideous laughter.

"Okay…"

Steven paddled over to the giant hand, latching onto Garnet's index finger with his hands and legs.

"Come with me…"

"Where are we…"

But before Garnet could answer his question, everything began to fade to white, and Steven fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

When he finally regained consciousness, Steven heard a stream of rushing water.

"Ugh…"

Once more, Steven opened his eyes, finding himself sitting atop a small islet sitting in the middle of a narrow brook. Tall pines stood all around him, and a bright, overcast sky loomed overhead.

In spite of the relative tranquility of the place, it seemed oddly quiet, and there were no animals anywhere in sight.

"Where am I?" Steven asked aloud.

"Home," he heard Garnet's voice say all around him.

Steven looked up to the sky, though Garnet was nowhere to be found.

"But… this doesn't look anything like home!" Steven replied.

"Perhaps not, but here you are safe so long as you remain within these woods," said Garnet's voice. "This is your sanctuary, Steven."

"My sanctuary?"

"Yes, Steven. You are free to wander through the forest as much as your heart desires, but should you come across a lonely temple built into the mountainside, you must not enter it."

"A temple?" pondered Steven.

"Whatever you do, Steven, you must not go inside that temple. That is all..."

Although Steven could not see Garnet's face, he could feel her voice growing distant.

"But wait! Garnet…!"

Even as Steven called out to her, Garnet's voice did not reply back.

"Oh… Guess I'm all alone now. I wonder what that was all about."

Even though the boy had no reason to distrust her, there was something about Garnet's fixation on this temple that Steven found odd. Did that mean he should try to find this temple for himself, even though his guardian specifically warned against it? And if there was something dangerous inside, why didn't Garnet mention what it was?

 _Well, I guess I can look into that later._

There was no need to rush. After all, Steven hadn't even begun exploring this place.

Steven stepped to one side of the brook. Upstream, he saw a small series of waterfalls formed from several wide ridges feeding into each other. Something about the stone suggested it had once been part of some ancient building, as seen by the small pillar jutting out near the top of the falls.

Steven walked up the sloping terrain to examine the pillar, but once he reached the top, a pair of mountains became visible in the far distance.

 _So those must be the mountains Garnet was talking about._

He couldn't tell if those were the only mountains within the area, though it was likely one of them contained the temple Garnet mentioned.

Further upstream, Steven saw a bridge and an old tablet sitting right next to it. A dirt-paved road began on Steven's side of the brook, and then crossed into the forest on the other side.

Steven walked up to the tablet but found it illegible, due to the writing's arcane script and erosion.

"How long has this been here for?"

Steven scratched the back of his head as he made his way across the bridge. Something about this place seemed oddly familiar, though he couldn't place his mind on just what that was.

 _Is this place even real?_

Garnet had said this place was his 'Sanctuary,' but why was he being shown this place?

Then, Steven saw a bright gleam up ahead.

"What is that?"

Steven ran toward the source of the light, not caring for his immediate surroundings.

There, out in a small clearing, he saw a large statue of Rose Quartz, colorless save for the bright sparkle on her gemstone.

"Mom?"

Rose had been seated on a large, square pedestal, her broad legs crossed underneath the fold of her dress. Her eyes remained shut as if meditating in contemplation. She held her right hand right up to her breast, its palm facing outward, while the other hand lay relaxed atop her left kneecap.

Steven approached the statue, speechless at its presence.

He had so many questions he wanted to ask. About the statue. About the forest. About the dream he had. About his mom.

About Garnet.

The gem suddenly cracked, and a thin mist began to spread throughout the forest.

"Gwah!"

Steven jumped back, and shortly after, he thought he heard the rustling of leaves somewhere behind him.

"What was that?"

Steven wasn't sure if he wanted to be here any longer, so he moved along on his journey, wary of whatever dangers might be lying within the forest.

* * *

Sometime later, Steven found himself standing within a rocky clearing, confident he had finally gotten away from whatever was pursuing him. No matter where he went, the thing seemed to follow him. Occasionally, he saw shadows, but he could never make out just what the figure was.

Perhaps outside the forest, the creature would not pursue him.

 _Hey wait a minute! Why don't I just use my shield?_

Steven looked back into the forest, but for some reason he could not find the will to summon up his shield.

 _Okay, maybe not._

Steven turned back forward. Before him stood a sheer mountain cliff with a temple carved into its side, much like the Crystal Temple he and the other gems resided in. A wide gorge separated the temple from the surrounding landscape, with only a thin rock path formed from erosion bridging the gap. The temple featured a wide entryway with two stone-carved channels carrying water into the pit below, though it did not seem to fill up even as time passed. On each side of the entrance stood several statues, separated by ornate, human-decorated columns pushed out away from the front wall. Steven recognized two of the statues as Ruby and Sapphire, though the other figures remained unfamiliar to him.

Steven crossed the bridge, and briefly stopped to examine the statues of Ruby and Sapphire.

"Well, looks like there's nowhere else to go."

Steven proceeded into the temple.

The inside was dark, but Steven's eyes quickly adjusted. Occasionally, light would shine in from a crack in the wall or a gap in the ceiling opening to the world beyond, even though there should have been at least a few dozen more feet of solid rock.

"Hello?" said Steven. "Is anyone there?"

As Steven moved deeper into the temple, specks of fairy-like light began to illuminate the interior.

"Hey there! I'm Steven. Do you guys know anything about this place?"

The lights did not seem to respond, lazily drifting in place.

"Oh, okay."

Steven proceeded further down the corridor. The lights did not appear to be sentient, but as Steven went further in, more of the lights began to appear.

Eventually, the temple's features became clear.

"Wait… are those…?"

Many statues of Rose Quartz stood on each side, assembled into myriad poses. None of them seemed to have actual gems, however, and quite a few of them looked like they had suffered some damage.

"But why are there there so many statues of mom?"

Although Steven stopped for a moment to contemplate, he figured he would find his answers once he got deep enough into the temple. So he continued his trek, though as he went forward, the boy felt a growing sense of dread.

Much of the interior had been decorated just as elaborately as the outside, even the floors Steven now walked on. Each section portrayed a scene from long ago, with hundreds to thousands of figures carved upon them, though Steven could not recognize any of them.

Farther up ahead, Steven saw a bright light.

"Light! Huh, wait, what is that?"

In the large chamber at the end of the corridor, Steven could see a giant figure etched into the wall, though most of its features had been obscured by the light coming from above. Underneath it, Steven could see a fountain formed from a series of square platforms, feeding into the channels that flowed alongside Steven.

Something about the carving told him that he shouldn't approach it, but at the same time, Steven felt compelled by some strange force to see what it was.

 _Maybe I should have listened to Garnet._

Yet even as Steven thought this, Steven felt his legs move him forward.

Once he was just two feet away from the edge of the corridor, Steven looked up at the large carving, though the light reflecting off the stone made the carving's features difficult to make out clearly. Much of the rest of the chamber lay in ruins, with moss and vines covering much of the stone. Above the edge where the chamber met the ground above, Steven could see the beginnings of a lush tropical forest, where a pair of narrow falls poured into a set of waterways that connected into the small pool surrounding the main fountain.

"Hmm…"

As Steven began to crouch down and shield his eyes, he heard a harsh ruffle somewhere behind him, akin to a body being dragged along a sandlot.

"Huh?"

Steven jumped up and sprung himself. To his surprise, he could now see out of the other end of the corridor as if it were only a hundred feet away. Steven was not sure how this was possible, though it seemed to be only a minor concern at the moment.

"Who's there?"

There was no one in sight.

"Whoever you are, show yourself!"

No one responded.

 _This is getting really weird._

Steven carefully backed himself away, and then turned to examine the back corners of the room, but aside from the crumbled stonework, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

After a few minutes of staring down the corridor, Steven strut over to the side, closed his eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Maybe I'm just imagining things."

Steven opened his eyes and began examining the carving once more.

When he looked, however, he was in exactly the same spot as before.

 _Wait, what am I…_

But just as Steven recognized his error, he heard that same ruffling sound from before, but this time he found himself unable to move.

 _What's happening? I…_

A large shadow loomed over him. Two heavy hands slowly grasped hold of Steven's shoulders.

Steven felt a warm, damp breath pass over him as the figure behind him whispered into his left ear, "You're in _my_ swamp now."

The boy felt himself being lifted up and then turned around, and just for a second, Steven thought he caught a glimpse of the figure's smiling, nightmarish visage.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH…!"_

Steven woke up in his room, sweat dripping across his face.

"Steven! What happened?" Pearl said as she stood up from beside Steven's bed.

"I dunno," said Steven. "I guess it was just a bad dream."

Even as he said this, Steven felt unsure. It just all felt so real.

Who was that person who chased him all over the forest? Was it that Uncle Grandpa guy, or was it something even more sinister and cruel?

And why did he remember Uncle Grandpa of all people?

 _Could it be…? No…_

Although he had his own fears and doubts, Steven still wasn't sure of the answers.

He tried calming himself down, taking deep breaths in and out while reassuring himself of his surroundings. Garnet hadn't moved from where she was before, and his dad was sleeping on the couch below. Amethyst was probably off sleeping in her own room or something like that.

It was still night outside, but without power it was hard to tell what time it was.

"Aren't you going to talk about what happened?" asked Pearl.

"Maybe later," said Steven, "I've still got to get some sleep."

Although the boy tried to rest once more upon his pillow, he feared the sorts of things he might see once his eyes gave way to sleep.

* * *

 _Those two kids are thinking about me right now, aren't they?_

Kevin's new ride sped down on the interstate at over eighty miles an hour, uncaring of whether it crashed through anyone or anything.

On this night, Kevin felt more alive than ever before. Dark energy coursed through his veins, and he could even see his own shadowy aura flickering out from his own skin.

The dark-tinted windows may have obscured his vision a bit, but he didn't need to see where he was going. The car had a life of its own.

With this lean, mean machine, there was no one in the whole wide world who could beat him.

 _Those kids think they can teach me a lesson? I'll race them! I'll race them so hard they won't know what hit them!_

And it was all thanks to his newfound pit crew.

Sure, he had no idea where the heck they came from, but after a few tweaks, Kevin's Himitsu X-12 was more powerful than ever.

Through the rearview mirror, Kevin could see the streaks of shadowy fire his car left behind, along with three of his crew members buckled up in the back seat and two 'Spark Plugs' floating in between them.

 _Those kids are obsessed about me! They think they can just snub me?_

 _I'll show them! I'll show anyone who thinks they can mess with The Kevin!_

Kevin's darkness-enshrouded hand reached for the clutch.

"It's Kevin time!"


	5. Fast and Furious

_It seems he has left us._

 _Well, can't we try again?_

 _No, it is impossible. His heart cannot be reached for the time being._

 _But why?_

 _I don't know. There is something strange about this place._

 _It doesn't seem all that strange to me._

 _You really think so? Can you not sense the strange magical undercurrents that pass through the very fabric of this realm?_

 _Yeah, I sense it too. I don't know how, but I've felt this before, somewhere._

 _Well, call me a sucker for sore eyes._

 _So what do we do now?_

 _The same thing we always do._

 _No more fun and games?_

 _Perhaps. Perhaps not. Whatever course of action we take, I would watch that boy if I were you. There is no denying that his heart hides some special power, if only we could see what it was._

* * *

Steven Universe let out a great yawn as he rose up from bed, with the light shining in from outside.

"Good morning!" said Steven to no one in particular. "Oh hey! The power's back on."

"Sure is," said Steven's dad as he took a bite from a bowl of dry cereal. "Oh, Connie was trying to call you earlier this morning, though I don't know what that was about."

"Hold on!"

Steven jumped out of bed and acquired his phone.

There were two messages on it.

Although he thought of calling Connie right away, Steven instead decided to play the first message.

"Uh, hey Steven, I didn't realize you weren't up yet, but I just wanted to leave a call. Anyway, the power's back!

"I'm gonna try and ask my parents if they'll let me come over again.

"Oh, by the way, did those guys come over again last night? Anyway, I'll talk to when you get up. Bye!"

The message ended, and Steven played the next call.

"Hey Steven! Did you hear the news this morning? Apparently there's this car Heartless that's causing trouble on the interstate. I…"

There was a soft knock.

"Hold on, someone's at the door."

There was a pause for about twenty seconds or so.

"I'll talk to you later."

The call ended.

Greg looked up from his meal. "What was all that about?"

"Not sure. I'm gonna try calling her back."

Steven tried redialing Connie's number, but was only met with a voice message.

"Huh, that's weird."

"She didn't answer?" asked Steven's dad.

"Nope."

Steven sidestepped past Garnet's body and then headed downstairs.

"Where's Pearl and Amethyst?" the boy asked.

"Doing Gem stuff, probably."

"Well why didn't they wake me up before?"

"Beats me."

Once finished, Greg took his bowl to the sink and proceeded for the door.

For a second, he turned back towards Steven. "You think it's safe out there?"

"Maybe?" Steven shrugged. "What do you need to go out for?"

"I just figured I'd go out and get some groceries."

Greg opened the door halfway, but then stopped.

"Mr. Universe," a gruff voice said from outside.

"Oh crud!"

As Steven approached, his dad opened the door wider and said, "Steven, you might want to see this."

Just as Steven arrived at the door, two large, burly men wearing black suits, sunglasses, and earpieces stepped upon the porch. The first man bore a some resemblance to Mr. Smiley, though his mustache was thicker and did not go past his upper lip. He also had a somewhat sizable goatee. The second man had a considerable tan, and a sharp, blond, military-style haircut, though it went at least three inches over the top of his noggin.

The two of them held out their wallets, both of which were jet black leather.

The black man was the first to speak, "Special Agent Thompson. We're with the FBI."

"I can see that," remarked Greg.

"May we have a look around?"

"Uh, sure?" replied Steven, though he wasn't sure about these mens' presence.

The two agents stepped inside the Beach House and looked around, though Agent Thompson stopped when he saw Garnet.

"Where are the others?" asked Agent Thompson.

"You know them?" Steven asked.

"More or less. Enough stuff happens in this city that it's hard for us not to know about it."

"What happened to her?" asked the other agent.

"We're still not sure," said Greg.

"Must've had something to do with the flash," said Agent Thompson.

"Flash?" Steven responded.

"The aurora, or whatever you might call it. Except it wasn't…"

At that moment, Pearl and Amethyst materialized on the warp pad towards the back of the room.

"Steven?" Pearl uttered.

"Who are these guys?" said Amethyst.

"They said they're with the FBI or something," said Steven.

"Correct," said the currently unnamed agent.

Agent Thompson cleared his throat and said, "This is Special Agent Henderson, and I'm Special Agent Thompson. We need help dealing with a certain Heartless threat."

"Uh," said Amethyst, "what do you think we've been doing this whole time?"

"How do you know they're called that anyway?" asked Greg.

"We asked your friends," said Agent Thompson. "They're not from around here, right?"

Before Steven could object, the agent added, "Riku and Lea, I mean."

"Right," said Steven, grasping hold of his arm.

"Excuse me, sirs," said Pearl, "but what exactly do you wish us to do?"

"Did any of you see the news this morning?" asked Agent Thompson.

"No, not really," Steven replied.

"We don't really watch human television all that much," said Pearl.

"You have a phone, right?" asked Agent Thompson.

"Yeah, why?" said Steven.

Steven pulled out his phone and handed it to the agent.

The agent typed a few things into it, and then the phone began playing a video from the morning news.

"Oh my!" Pearl remarked upon seeing the screen. "How did we not see this?"

"Dear god," said Greg, "what happened?"

"This is bad!" said Steven.

Upon the screen, buildings forming a wide arc had crumbled to the ground, and fire was rapidly spreading through the small town. Several vehicles, including two ambulances and at least a dozen police cars, had been turned over or wrecked, and several mangled bodies had been visible throughout. Heartless were crawling throughout the city, though many of them seemed to wander aimlessly.

The voice of the reporter then spoke, "Earlier today, an unidentified black and yellow vehicle has been spotted throughout Delmarva, Jersey, and Kennedy driving through buildings, civilians, and mountains alike. Police and military personnel are on the chase, though this renegade vehicle shows no signs of stopping. The death toll is currently estimated to be at roughly 1500, with several thousand more wounded or injured. It is currently unknown whether this incident is related to the giant hand incident from several months before, but more information will be available as the situation develops…"

The video stopped there.

With a few more taps and swipes, the screen then displayed a clip of a black-and-yellow-sprayed sports vehicle racing towards the camera's bottom left with six grayish tower-like things floating alongside it. A prominent Heartless emblem displayed on the car's hood, and three large drills crackling with dark energy protruded out from the front. The windows were too dark to see through, though something about the car's general shape seemed familiar.

Two long trails of purple, shadowy fire followed in the wake of the car's path, cutting through the ground it crossed.

A pair of police vehicles closed in from behind the Heartless sports car. One of the towers turned around, briefly revealing its beady yellow eyes, leaned forward, and then fired a laser-like blast at the vehicle to the police car on the right, destroying it in a fiery explosion.

During this, the other police car attempted to swerve in along the sports car's right side. The police car's driver lowered his window, holding out a standard issue pistol.

Three shots were heard, but they all bounced off the Heartless car's tire and chassis.

As the police care came close, the trunk suddenly opened, and a large, red hammer held by a white, spring-and-beam-supported glove rose out from it.

 _ **-POW!-POW!-KABOOM!-**_

Without creating any noticeable bounce or tilt from the vehicle housing it, the heavy end of the giant hammer slammed into the police car's hood, and then reached straight above the driver's seat before sending it off into another fiery explosion.

"How is that thing still even standing?" Pearl remarked.

"Our experts aren't sure either," said Agent Thompson. "We think it's got something to do with magic or supernatural phenomena."

"You mean the police car?" Greg said, confused.

"No," said Pearl, "I mean that hammer. How can those materials support something something that heavy without snapping? Especially when they're that thin!"

"Magic," responded Agent Thompson.

"Yeah," said Steven, "I mean you built that robot thing, right?"

"Yeah but…" Pearl let out an annoyed groan, and then let her arms go loose.

"Ahem!" said Agent Thompson. "This footage was taken about three hours ago. We've dispatched armed personnel to take care of the situation, but this 'Heartless vehicle' seems impervious to most conventional weaponry. Its drill also allows it to go through most barricades we set up for it.

"Normally, we wouldn't ask something like this, but we're running low on options."

"So, you just want us to take this thing out, right?" asked Amethyst.

"Essentially, but you're going to need our help."

"And why is that?"

"Because this thing is fast. We normally let you Crystal Gems take care of things by yourselves, but this time you're gonna need an extra set of wheels or wings if you want to keep up with this thing."

"Guess that makes sense," remarked Greg.

Steven began to say, "But what about…"

"We know that a couple of you Gem-folk have got a few special skills of your own, but we'd rather not waste any more time than is necessary," said Agent Thompson.

"Alright," said Pearl, "so where are we going?"

"We'll be taking a plane over to Fort Carson. It'll be a long ride, but once we're there, we expect to intercept the renegade vehicle once it reaches that part of the states."

"Fort Carson?" said Greg. "That seems like it'll take a while."

"Can't we just take the Warp Pad?" asked Steven, pointing towards the back.

"Warp pad you say?"

The two Agents turned to where Steven was pointing.

"You sure that thing won't kill us?" asked Agent Thompson.

"Why do you think it would do something like that?" said Steven. "Connie's used it before, and so have Lars and Sadie."

"Hmm," said the leading agent.

"As long as it doesn't take us somewhere dangerous, it should be safe."

"Come to think of it," said Pearl, "you wouldn't happen to have a map or something, right?"

"Just use Google," replied Agent Thompson.

"Oh, right," said Pearl.

Before Pearl could take the phone herself, the agent made a few more adjustments to it before handing it off.

As everyone gathered around it, the phone now displayed a map of the country, with a large dot located at the military site.

"I think there's a pad somewhere around where that dot should be," said Pearl.

"Good to know," said Agent Thompson. "I'll have your friends come on in. Just make sure it takes us to the right place. I'd prefer to take this thing out before it can cause more trouble."

The two agents made their exit. As they left, Steven could see them running down the beach towards the end where his dad's car wash was.

Sometime after the agents went out of sight, Lion leaped up to the front balcony and then trod into the house.

"Lion! You're here!"

An idea then popped into Steven's head.

"Say Lion, do you think you could take us to where the Heartless is?"

Lion nodded.

"Great! Or maybe you could come along with and help us fight it!"

Lion simply watched and blinked.

"I'm not sure how well he'd be able to keep up with that thing, but I'm sure he'd be able to help in other ways," said Pearl.

"Well," said Greg, "I guess I'll see how some of the others are doing and get some groceries while I'm out. Have fun on your adventure everyone!"

"Bye dad!" said Steven.

Greg Universe waved to the Crystal Gems and then descended from the balcony, before circling around to the right.

After some time, they then saw Connie, Riku, Lea, and the two agents approach from the left side. Connie seemed to be straddling Rose's sword over her shoulder, but for some reason the blade seemed to take on the shape of an old-fashioned key.

Lea was the first to enter the Beach House. "Sup?"

"Hey, Lea!" said Steven, "How's it going? Oh, Connie, is that…?"

"Well," said Connie, examining Rose's sword-turned-keyblade, "kinda. It looked normal before, but when I touched it this morning, it just sorta turned into this thing."

"That's a keyblade for you," Riku remarked offhandedly.

"Say, did you get my calls from earlier?"

"Yeah," said Steven.

"So I assume these guys told you about what's going on, right?"

"Yup."

A sharp dialing tone was heard from Agent Henderson's pocket. The agent then pulled out a somewhat bulky, outdated phone from his pockets and began heading out the door. "Sorry, I gotta take this."

"Anyway," said Agent Thompson, "we might have to make a slight adjustment to our plans."

The agent then pulled out a map of the United States from his pockets and unfolded it in front of the Gems.

"How about here?"

Agent Thompson then pointed to a dot sitting roughly near the center of Oklahoma.

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow," said Pearl.

"The Warp Pad. Do you know if one of its hubs might link here?"

"Possibly…" Pearl said as she took the map into her hands.

Agent Thompson then looked around the room once more, seemingly indifferent to Lion's presence.

"Also, where's Greg?" Agent Thompson said as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"He went to get groceries," Steven replied.

"Hmm…" uttered the agent. "Well, we'll be leaving shortly. I'll arrange a transport to bring us to the base once we get our bearings."

Suddenly, Agent Henderson popped in through the door and said, "Sir, we've located two more gems."

"The report mentioned something like that. What's their status, Agent Henderson?"

"It seems like they're willing to cooperate with us, sir."

"Where are they right now?"

"They said they're about fifteen minutes from Beach City. They're heading our way as we speak."

"Good," said Agent Thompson, "Anyway, I seem to have drifted off topic." He then turned to everyone else. "Once we arrive at the destination, we'll have you undergo some basic orientation. While I don't doubt some of you might already have combat experience with these things, we don't want you bruising yourselves during the fall."

Agent Thompson then turned to Connie and Steven, "You two will be receiving this training as well, but you'll be staying behind during the mission."

"What?" Amethyst blurted out.

"But why?" said Steven.

"We've handled these things before," said Connie. "So why not now?"

"You're still kids after all," the agent replied.

"You do have a point there," said Pearl.

"C'mon! Let them come with," said Lea.

"Sorry, but despite whatever chances these kids might provide us, I'd rather not put these kids on the line unless it's absolutely necessary."

Steven turned to Connie. "Connie, why don't we…"

"Yeah," said Connie, "I was just thinking that. But now?"

"We gotta help defeat this Heartless somehow!"

"Well, here goes nothing!"

"What are you…?" said Agent Thompson.

"Steven, Connie, wait!" Pearl shouted.

But before the older Gem could react, Steven and Connie held each other by the hand and began their little dance. The world spun around them, and their minds blended into a single consciousness.

They were now Stevonnie.

Agent Thompson took off his sunglasses and looked on in shock.

"Well, now I've seen everything."

"You can… do that?" uttered Riku.

"So," said Agent Thomspon, "you're a gem too."

"I am," said Stevonnie.

Stevonnie briefly examined the pink keyblade in their hand, and then conjured their shield shortly after.

"Guess that changes things, though I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details."

"Like what?" asked Amethyst.

"How does this whole… _fusion_ thing even work?" Agent Thompson asked after polishing his sunglasses and putting them back on.

"Well," said Pearl, "it's sort of an intimate process, but when two gems, or in this case a gem and a…"

"Actually, forget I asked that," said Agent Thompson. "What I need to know is whether this process somehow grants you kids the sense and responsibility that comes with being an adult."

"I know I can do this," said Stevonnie. "I know how to drive after all."

Agent Thompson seemed to eye the human-gem fusion from behind his shades.

He then uprighted himself and said, "Alright, but try not to mention that to anyone else, got it?"

"No problem," said Stevonnie.

"Now, all we've gotta do is wait."

After several more minutes, more agents would arrive with Lapis and Peridot. Once they were briefed on the situation, everyone proceeded onto the warp pad in small groups, with Pearl returning after the first warp to escort the second group. After that, they would head to the nearby Fort Milo with the help of transports Agent Thompson had called in earlier, and once there, they would receive their mission briefing.

The fate of America was in their hands.

* * *

Sergeant Russel Benedict Seymour sifted through the thick underbrush, with his three compatriots following close behind. Although they had been armored from head to toe, their lightweight and transformable armor ensured that their movements would not make too much noise.

Not that there was anyone around these parts who might chance upon them.

Their mission had been simple enough, to apprehend Riku and the red-headed scoundrel that escaped with him, but the two of them had a knack for complicating matters.

Already, the boys had managed to escape through five separate universes, but the longer they were left to their own devices, the more likely there would be further problems down the line.

Not that he doubted the Ogrelord's immense power. Far from it. The Shrekpire was truly immortal, and it was thanks to the iron faith and ingenuity of its citizens that it would truly endure the test of time and space.

But Sergeant Seymour had duties to carry out and a name to uphold.

If he failed here, who knows what the boy could do. The boy could establish an organized resistance before the Shrekpire even laid its eyes on any outlying worlds, or perhaps he could unleash a menace that could take the Shrekpire head on.

No, that was not true. Nothing could penetrate through the Shrekpire's almighty layers.

Sergeant Seymour returned to the situation at hand. Just where were they?

"Earth, right?" Private Barney Sandford asked.

Sergeant Seymour swiftly replied, "Indeed it is, young comrade."

Or rather, this was _an_ Earth to be more precise.

Indeed, there were many universes containing the planet Earth. In fact, there were some studies suggesting that his home world, _the_ very seat of the Shrekpire, had once been one of these Earths until Shrek had bestowed upon it his divine ogre love. But much of that was outside his own area of expertise.

While Sergeant Seymour had been a scholar and a gentleman, he was first and foremost a man of war, ready to fight and die for the glory of the Shrekpire.

Private Indigo Black stamped her heavy black keyblade into the ground, "Which one is it?"

"Patience, my dears," Sergeant Seymour said as he raised his fingers to his subordinates. "Perhaps by accessing this dimensions networks and databases we might be able to discover that answer for ourselves."

Sergeant Seymour pressed a button on the suit's built-in watch, causing a hologram of this dimension's earth to appear about an inch above it.

"Well, let's see here."

The Sergeant used his thumb and index finger to magnify the image until the squadron's current position was visible. Luckily, this version of Earth had already developed Internet-level technology, so there was no need to find details through more cumbersome means.

"Well, this is interesting."

"We seem to be in the States," remarked Private Black.

"No, not that," said Sergeant Seymour. "Look at the names."

"Oh."

Indeed, while most versions of Earth contained the United States in some shape or form, most did not share this peculiar combination of state names.

"Kennedy, Delmarva, Jersey…, see if you can find anything on that."

"Roger!"

As his three privates began searching through their on-board computers, Sergeant Seymour began thinking through this odd peculiarity.

 _Where have I heard those names before?_

And then the answer came to him.

"Aha!" the Sergeant said aloud.

He exited the signal-accessing program on his watch and briefly delved into his computer's database before finding the material he wanted.

With the final press, a poster-like image of Steven and the Gems shot out from Sergeant Seymour's wristwatch and rotated for the others to see.

"Huh? Steven Universe?" said Private Chester Almond, perplexed by the strange image.

"Care to explain?" Private Black asked.

"Don't you see?" said Sergeant Seymour. "This image contains the answers we need! This boy and the Gems that surround him are the keys to this universe! Wherever these four might be, we'll likely find Riku and Axel as well!"

"You mean Lea?"

"Whatever! They're the same bloody person anyhow!"

"You haven't really played through all the games, have you?" said Private Almond.

"I've done my fair share! But that's besides the point! Gents…!"

Private Black let out a loud cough.

"And ladies… we have a mission to fulfill. Although we may not know where Riku and Axel are right now, I am reasonably certain that by finding the boy, Steven Universe, we shall find our targets. Although our reconnaissance is minimal, it would be wise for us to adopt more suitable attire so as to blend in with the locals. Remember, we are on a mission from the High Emperor-Pope himself, so we must ensure that we, as representatives of our glorious Shrekpire, remain on these peoples' good graces, so that one day they too may understand the greatness that is Shrek!"

"Yes sir!" said the three underlings.

"And what was that I just heard? I could've sworn I heard something _other_ than the standard prayer! Let me hear that again!"

The three privates stood to attention, withdrawing whatever weapons they might have had on them.

"Shrek is love! Shrek is life!"

"Good! Good! Excellent!" said Sergeant Seymour, swinging his fist. "The Ogrelord shall be pleased with our devotion! Now let us proceed with our valiant pursuit of the keyblade warrior and his companion!

"Soldiers, Shrek Disciples, Onion Knights and all," the sergeant said as he drew out his keyblade, "today we shall traverse this great jungle and march onward to Beach City! To victory!"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not sure how well I executed this chapter, as I kinda had a few blocks while trying to figure out the logistics of how everyone would fight Kevin's Heartless. It's also possible I might have overlooked some pre-established way that the gems could get to the fight. While I probably could have done some calculations on how far Kevin's Heartless would be able to travel and stuff, I just sorta picked a somewhat arbitrary location for the fight to be, even though I'm not that familiar with the geography of the area.**

 **Also figured this would be a good time to introduce the Shrekpire pursuit force/the so-called 'keyblade warriors,' even though the Shrek stuff probably scared people away.**

 **Just as a heads up, I'm probably going to go straight to the fight next chapter and might have the narrative skip over the part where Steven & friends visit Fort Milo and stuff (I think I made up that name on the spot, even though I had reference to a list while writing this). I don't think that there will be much that's important that happens at the base itself, other than learning something basic like how to use parachutes and getting briefed on the mission, though I'm not really an expert on this stuff. I've definitely overlooked some stuff, but if you've got any ideas as to stuff that might become relevant during the upcoming fight, feel free to mention them. **

**Anyway, that's that for now. I probably rushed some things, but I figured this would be a good stopping point in the story. If you've got any questions, comments, critiques or whatnot, feel free to say/ask them. Hope y'all stay tuned for more to come!**


	6. Speed Racer

"Look," said Stevonnie, pointing through the Osprey's small porthole, "there it is!"

"Where? Let me see!"

Amethyst stood atop her fold-down seat and leaned over Stevonnie's shoulder to peer out the window.

After roughly an hour and a half of bus-riding and flying, they had finally found their target. Luckily, the training and briefing had been brief. Thanks to time constraints, the officials at the base had given them a quick demonstration on how to use their parachutes and provided them with maps and survival manuals in case they got lost in the wilderness. But thanks to Connie's knowledge and Steven's gravitational skills, it was likely that Stevonnie wouldn't be needing those things.

Down in the vast, hilly, autumn forest below, they could see the small blip of black and yellow streaking through the trees in a blaze of dark fire. Had it not been for the great fire searing through the landscape and spewing its shadowy fumes, this forest would have looked magnificent, with its shades of red, green, and vibrant yellow.

Additionally, there were two battle copters trailing behind the Heartless sports car, waiting for an opportune moment to test it with their ammunition. Unlike the strange pivoting-rotor plane Stevonnie and their friends had taken, these looked more like conventional helicopters instead.

The pilot turned towards the passengers in back, "Y'all ready for this?"

Lea summoned his fiery chakrams. "Never been more ready in my life."

"Once we pass the target, we'll be dropping you into the fray. If any of you are having trouble out there, use one of the flares we gave you, and one of us will come pick you up."

"Got it!" said Stevonnie.

"Good to hear," said the pilot.

Even though the vehicle down below had been traveling at over 120 miles an hour, they had no problems catching up to it.

"Hold on," Pearl said as she turned away from the window, "I have an idea. Amethyst, why don't we fuse into Opal?"

"You mean right now?" asked the purplish gem.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. If we hit that Heartless in just the right spot, we might be able to divert its current course."

"Well, alright. Just tell me when."

"So what is my job in all of this?" said Lapis.

"Just make sure the others make it to the ground safely," said Pearl.

"Yeah, some of us are going to need it," Riku said, eyeing Lea.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" said the tall red-headed man, holding his wrists at his hips. "I can handle myself just fine."

Things would be a lot easier if the military let Lion tag along, but for some reason, they wouldn't let him on the bus. Lion could find his own way around, of course, but that meant getting to the fight would be a bit harder.

Then, Stevonnie had an idea, "Hey, why don't we use my bubble?"

"That is an interesting thought," Pearl remarked.

"Eh, don't worry about it," said Lapis, "I think I can carry this doofus just fine."

"Just make sure we land somewhere where Lapis can make use of her abilities," said Riku, "just in case our friend messes up."

"You guys are the worst," Lea lamented.

"Thirty seconds until we pass over the target," the Pilot called out.

In the back of the Osprey, the loading ramp began to open up, until it became level with the rest of the vehicle.

Those who weren't already standing up out of their seats undid the straps that secured them there. Stevonnie and Riku summoned out their signature weapons if they hadn't been summoned out already, while Lapis formed her wings from the water in the air.

"Be careful out there," said the pilot.

"Ready Amethyst?" Pearl said, stretching her hand out as she made a step towards the back.

"Heck yeah!"

Using what little space they had, the two gems engaged in their dance of fusion, spinning around in glowing brilliance as they dove out the helicopter.

"Let's do this!"

Stevonnie made a run for the back and then leaped out. Far up ahead, they could see the Heartless vehicle fast approaching, though it would be several seconds before it would come close.

Opal materialized several feet ahead of them, and then landed herself upright in between a pair of trees using the balls of her feet. She then swiftly conjured out her bow and let loose an arrow straight at the Heartless sports car.

 _ **-KABOOM!-**_

The car tried to swerve out of the way, but the arrow landed right into the car's left bumper, causing it to spin and tumble backwards, while still leaping its way forward.

As Stevonnie came close to the ground, they lowered their descent and then launched their shield right at the car, though one of the floating tower-like Heartless moved to intercept the blow before the shield could hit the car's hull.

Riku then flashed before them, zipping into the car multiple times at blinding speed before following up his series of teleportations with single slam into the hood, creating a four-directional shockwave and obliterating the remaining sentry Heartless almost instantaneously.

"Whoa," Stevonnie remarked, standing speechless before the buff boy's signature technique.

Just shortly after, Stevonnie heard Lea land behind them, his landing softened by Lapis's aid.

"Looks like you guys don't need my help after all."

"It's a lot weaker than I imagined," Stevonnie replied.

As the car was still tumbling, Riku swiftly flash-teleported over near the others.

"Sure said it. This thing's only got three health bars, and we've already chipped off one of them."

"Health bars?" Lapis asked, puzzled.

"You mean like in a game?" said Stevonnie.

Lea shrugged. "Who knows? We sorta have a thing that allows us to see whether anyone's badly hurt."

Another arrow flew overhead and slammed right into the Heartless car.

 _ **-KABOOM!-**_

"But enough chat," said Lea, "let's finish this!"

Everyone but Lapis and Opal then rushed for the tumbling car.

Just as the roof of the car was about to slam into a thick tree trunk, the car's trunk burst open, and a giant, cartoon-y, spring-operated hand sprung out. The gloved hand latched itself onto another tree nearby, pulled the car away from the tree it was about to crash into, and then used its sudden momentum to fling the whole vehicle at Stevonnie and the two outsiders before retreating back into the trunk.

Riku rolled underneath it, but Stevonnie stood where they were and instinctively enlarged their shield.

Lea however, wasn't quick enough to react.

"Watch out!" Stevonnie tried to call out.

But just a second before the car's heavy chassis was about to crash into Lea, Lion suddenly leaped forth from out of nowhere and slammed right into the Heartless.

"Lion!" Stevonnie called out.

Although the beast tried to stand itself back up when it landed, Lion collapsed from the shock of the impact.

Another of Opal's arrows soared overhead, but whizzed just over the car's bumper as it was thrown back.

The trunk opened once again, but this time the gloved hand inside was wielding the hammer from before.

 _ **-BAM!-**_

The Heartless then slammed this hammer into the ground, which launched it sky high just past the Apaches flying overhead.

"Looks like this Heartless has learned a few tricks," said Lea.

"I take it they don't normally do stuff like this?" Lapis said from behind.

"They're tough alright," said Riku, dusting the dirt off his pants, "but usually they don't try to pull off crazy stunts like this."

As the Heartless car spun around in the air, its rotation slowly began to decelerate. The hand swapped itself out for a large, pirate-age cannon, which angled itself towards Opal and the others on the ground.

 _ **-KAPOW!-KAPOW!-KAPOW!-KAPOW!-**_

A series of molten cannonballs came barreling down for the ground.

"I'll cover for you!"

Opal then leapt down from her perch and fired away at the cannonballs. A few of them were deflected from their course, though most of them were still headed for Stevonnie and the others.

"Everyone over here!" Stevonnie shouted out as they stepped in front of Lion.

Although Lea initially prepared to conjure out a circle of fire, he then heeded Stevonnie's command and took cover behind them. Lapis shortly followed, despite her flight capabilities.

Stevonnie saw Riku standing alone by himself. "Riku, what are you doing?"

"Heh."

The boy let out a slight grin, and then turned to face the burning projectile head on.

"Riku!"

Just before the cannonball was about to collide, Riku whipped his dark keyblade in front of him, causing a shimmering barrier to appear.

 _ **-CHING!-POW!-**_

The barrier sent the cannonball flying back despite all laws of physics dictating the contrary. Almost a second later, the other ball slammed into Stevonnie's shield and sent the people gathered behind it flying back, though the shield remained intact.

Just moments before the deflected cannonball could collide with the Heartless car, the car's cannon retracted back into the trunk and replaced itself what appeared to be a miniature jet engine. As this happened, several tower Heartless drifted out of the trunk. On the sides, the wheels extended out and then snapped downward relative to the car's frame of reference. The hubcaps extended from the wheels themselves and then grew into large buzz-saw blades.

A sharp, bluish flame shot out from the rear end of the newly emerged thruster.

The car then propelled its way out of the cannonball's trajectory, and then grew a set of wings from its sides.

"It transformed?" Stevonnie remarked.

"Great," said Lea, "now how are we gonna get it? It's times like this I wish we were in Neverland."

"Well, sooner or later it'll come back to us," said Riku. "Remember, the Heartless…"

Just as Riku said this, Opal leaped up from her spot, slid close to the others, and then fired an arrow at the car, which then split into many more arrows.

"Or that," Lapis remarked, pointing towards the rough center of Opal's technique.

Several shots landed as the car attempted to dodge it, but it then dove toward the ground as its wheels then turned back upward, tearing through the forest as the trees crossed its path with both its drill and buzz-saws.

"Get ready," said Riku.

As the car came close, Stevonnie jumped far to the side, and as if driven by some instinct, they flung Rose's sword towards the car's chassis. Somehow, the force and angle of Stevvonie's throw caused the sword to spin about its center while maintaining a relatively straight trajectory.

Mid-flight the blade seemed to turn into some sort of key, before retracting back towards Stevonnie, as if driven by some magnetic force.

Stevonnie could also vaguely see Riku and Lea execute their own techniques, though Lea accidentally collided with one of the buzz saws. For whatever reason, Lea did not seem to suffer any grievous injuries.

Just then, the tower-like Heartless had finally drifted towards the forest's canopy, and then took aim at the various fighters.

"Watchers," Riku noted.

"Been a while since we've run into one of those," said Lea.

The two outsiders leaped out of the way of the Watchers' laser fire, though Stevonnie was simply content with deflecting the blast off their shield.

When the Watchers came close enough, Riku leaped high in the air and then began unleashing combos upon the floating Heartless.

As this was happening, Stevonnie continued to watch the Heartless Car as it tore through the forest, dodging many of Opal's energy arrows. When it got to about a tenth of a mile away or so, the car began to turn around. Like a set of shade blinders, the hood retracted downward towards the front, though instead of an engine and whatever other components must have existed in there, the interior was mostly empty save for one notable exception.

A large, shining, disco ball rose out from the center, supported by a long metal pole.

 _What is that?_

Even though Stevonnie had no idea what exactly the disco ball was supposed to do, they knew that the Heartless was preparing to unleash a special attack.

Their suspicions were confirmed, for as the Car began to drift close, Stevonnie could see the disco ball beginning to glow brighter, while cracks of lightning leaped across its surface.

"Guys, it's doing something!" warned Stevonnie.

After Riku, Lea, and Lapis finished off the remaining Watchers, they all turned towards the incoming car.

"Looks like it's desperate," Lea remarked.

The side doors of the car suddenly sprung open, and out came three shadows, one soldier, and two yellow-cloaked pods.

"Don't let them distract you," said Riku.

Shortly after the lesser Heartless jumped out, the doors, buzz-saws, and wheels retracted to their original positions. The car dipped down and then began digging through the soil, leaving everything above the headlights above ground.

The disco ball's inner light suddenly shone brighter than before. Within the last moments before the attack, Stevonnie stepped back in front of Lion and readied their shield.

 _ **-PSHOOOOO!-**_

Many laser-like beams tore through the forest, igniting almost everything it touched.

Opal tried to dodge out of the way, though one of the beams happened to hit her directly, forcing her to de-fuse. Lea also tried dodging one of them, though his timing was off.

Even though the beams couldn't have been bigger than a few inches, their power was evident.

When the beams hit Stevonnie's shield, along with Riku's blocking barrier, they were deflected back towards the car, tearing through the dark steel.

One of the beams blasted open the front right window, and inside Stevonnie could see an armored, humanoid figure, its arms fused to the steering wheel and a Heartless emblem etched on its chest.

Something about the shadowy figure seemed familiar.

Out of the c **o** rner of their eye, Stevonnie then saw one of the yellow pods drift close.

 _ **-PSHOOM!-**_

The blast of lighting shot Stevonnie up into the air.

Sharp pain and burning seared through their body.

Stevonnie's mind went numb.

 _"HEAL!"_

A creamy, greenish aura then swirled around Stevonnie, and the pain seemed to subside. It wasn't quite the same as Steven's healing powers, though it was quick to take effect.

Whatever this magic was, Stevonnie felt renewed.

As Stevonnie pushed themself back up, they saw Riku just a few feet before them.

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver," said Stevonnie.

"Don't sweat it."

Riku then began to slash through the various minor Heartless before them.

Some distance behind them, Stevonnie could also hear Pearl and Amethyst's pained groans, along with what was presumed to be a helicopter crashing.

"How much more until this thing goes down?" Stevonnie asked Riku.

"Just a little bit more. I can handle things from here. See if your friends are alright."

"But what about…"

"I'll heal Lion as soon as I get the chance."

"Got it."

 _They're more like my family though_ , Stevonnie thought as they began to back away from the fight.

As Riku ran forward, a shining arrow of pink light soared in from overhead and then struck the ground just a foot or so before Riku.

 _ **-KABOOM!-**_

Even though Stevonnie was at least a few dozen feet away from where the arrow struck, the impact created a great explosion, sending almost everyone nearby soaring through the forest.

 _ **-CRACK!-**_

Stevonnie's body broke straight through one of the trees a few meters away.

 _ **-SLASH!-SLASH!-SLASH!-SHING!-**_

When Stevonnie landed, they split back into their component selves.

"Connie, Steven," Pearl's voice shouted, "are you two alright?"

Steven groaned as he struggled to reorient himself.

"What about you two?" Steven heard Connie say.

When Steven turned to face the others, everyone had been pretty badly bruised, even though most of this fight had been nothing more than standard Gem fare.

"We'll be fine," said Amethyst.

"But what about Lion?" said Steven.

The four of them turned to look at Lion, who was lying stretched out unconscious on his back.

"Eh, he should be fine," said Amethyst.

"Just watch over him, Steven," Pearl added.

"Okay."

Steven walked over to Lion's body and began applying his healing spit.

"Just what was that thing?" Connie asked.

From the looks of things, that attack had looked like one of Pearl's energy bolts, though it was much longer and thinner. When Steven looked back at the impact site, a large crater had been left where the arrow had landed. The dark paint lining the Heartless Car was now dissipating to reveal an all too familiar yellow sports car, bent and beaten out of shape.

"Wait, that's Kevin's car!" said Steven

Standing by the driver's side was a black-cloaked figure wielding a black keyblade in her right hand. The coat was almost identical to the one Lea wore, though it was cut to fit the person wearing it. Shadow seemed to conceal the face underneath.

Kevin's unconscious body hung over her shoulder.

Despite Steven's injuries, he pushed himself back up and walked towards the mysterious figure.

"Just hold on a second! Who are you, and why did you attack us?"

The hood turned towards Steven and the Gems' direction. "Oh? Are you talking to me?"

"Yes I'm talking to you!"

"Steven," Connie interjected, "maybe we should…"

"Yes, Steven, why don't you listen to your girlfriend? Besides, I'm not anyone a twerp like you needs to be concerned about."

"Larxene…"

Near the edge of the newly created crater, Lea began to press himself back up.

"Larxene?" said Connie.

"Wait… no, that's impossible!"

In an instant, the figure Lea called Larxene teleported behind Lea.

"Why don't you just be _QUIET!"_

 _ **-SMACK!-**_

The brunt force of the woman's keyblade knocked Lea unconscious once more.

"Hehe… But it doesn't really matter whether you know who I am."

"Just who are you?" shouted Lapis, who seemed unharmed from Larxene's energy blast.

"Weren't you just listening to your friend? Obviously, he knows who I am, so why don't you just ask him when he wakes up?"

Steven looked down at Lea on the ground, and then turned to Riku, who was also struggling to recover from the blast.

"What do you know about Shrek?" Steven asked.

"Oh, those fools?" said the woman. "I'm just running a few errands for them."

"Them?" uttered Amethyst.

"Why, the Great Shrekpire, obviously! They're quite fond of their stupidly lame puns, but just as long as I do a few easy tasks from time to time, I get to do whatever I want. Besides, I like my job. I got a cool keyblade out of it after all."

"What are you planning on doing to Kevin?" Steven yelled.

"And why do you care? Kevin's been a bad boy, and I'm just going to give him the punishment he deserves. When I'm done with him, he's going to be a happy, productive member of society!"

Pearl made an audible gulp.

"I don't know what it is you're planning," said Steven as he made a sweep of his arm, "but I know it can't be good! I know Kevin's kinda a jerk, and I know he's killed a lot of people, but he wouldn't have done that if it weren't for the Heartless!"

"Steven's right!" said Connie.

"Ahahahaha…! You actually think that explanation means he's faultless in all this? This boy willingly gave himself to the darkness!"

"How do you know that?" asked Steven.

"Oh, I have my ways of knowing. But I've wasted enough time chatting with you fools."

As the woman began to turn away, Steven shouted out, "Wait! You're not going anywhere!"

"Steven," said Pearl, "are you sure we should be antagonizing this woman?"

"Well, we can't just stand here and let her take Kevin away!"

A thick sphere of darkness opened up just a few feet away from where the black-coated figure was standing.

As she began to step into it, the woman turned around and said, "And just what makes you think you can stop me?"

"How about this!"

Amethyst suddenly pulled out her whip and aimed it towards Larxene, who somehow flash-stepped through it as it was about to collide into her.

"Grrr… How are you doing that?"

"Can't tell! It's top secret!" said the black-coated figure. "Anyway, I've got places to be! Catch you later!"

The woman then stepped into the dark mist, which then shrunk and disappeared.

By this point, Riku had finally managed to sit up.

"What just happened?" the boy said.

"Someone dressed like Lea just kidnapped Kevin," said Connie, "I mean that guy whose heart was powering that Heartless."

"The Organization is involved in all this?"

"I don't know," Connie continued. "She didn't mention any organization."

"No, wait, that can't be right. We already defeated the Organization."

"What is this 'Organization' you're talking about?" Lapis asked.

"I'll tell you about them later. Anyway, did she say anything?"

"She said she was working for this 'Great Shrekpire' or something," said Connie. "Oh, and she also had this black Keyblade."

"A black Keyblade? How did… No, I shouldn't be asking that question."

"Well," said Amethyst, "she said she got it from this 'Shrekpire' or whatchamacallit."

"Either way, this doesn't bode well for us."

"Are you folks finished?" a new voice boomed in from behind the group.

When everyone turned around, they saw Special Agent Thompson come through the forestry, accompanied by a plethora of field agents and armed personnel.

"Agent Thompson!" Pearl uttered.

"I am grateful that you helped us in dealing with this supernatural threat to our country. Although we have lost several lives in this conflict, we have at least managed to avoid further tragedy. Unless there's still some unfinished business here, we'd like for you to accompany us back to the base for payment and debriefing."

Agent Thompson paused before speaking again, "And we'll make sure you and your friends are all patched up."

"Thank you," said Connie.

"No, thank you," the Agent replied.

"Well," said Amethyst, "there's not much else we need to do here, so let's head back and pick up Peridot."

"No objections here," said Lapis.

All the others, aside from Lea due to his unconscious state, settled on the same decision.

Once that was decided, Agent Thompson led everyone back to an Osprey nearby, while Riku and Lion's bodies were carried by some of the other personnel standing around.

Although it would be another hour or so before they reached their destination, the government would likely be asking them many questions concerning the nature of their enemy. Steven too, had several questions for Riku and Lea, though he would have to wait until he returned to the beach house before those questions would be answered.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the massive delay in writing this chapter, but I got kinda sidetracked by another thing I got involved in. Updates are probably going to be a lot less frequent than they previously were, but I'll see how far I can get into this story.**

 **I was kinda expecting for the fight against Kevin's Heartless to be a lot more elaborate, and I could have easily made it more so, though my writing pace has slowed down signficantly.**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Homeward Bound

Man, this day was a total bummer.

The power turned back on earlier that morning, but Buck wasn't able to go out thanks to government agents all over the place. The guys who worked for his dad looked like they were having a good time, though Buck wished he could check to see how his friends were doing.

The Heartless were gone for the most part, but there were those news reports of that Heartless super-car wreaking havoc on the interstate like life were some big video game.

Buck felt sad for all those people.

Steven and the Gems were probably doing something about it though. They usually knew how to handle these sorts of situations.

A knock came at the door.

"Son, could you get that?" said his dad.

Buck didn't see much trouble with obeying such a request, seeing as he was sitting relatively close by.

When he opened the door, he saw four figures standing behind it. It was pretty clear that none of them were from Beach City.

Their leader, standing at the fore in a red vest, stepped forward and offered his hand. Something about his mustache and appearance reminded him of that British captain guy from that one movie he saw in school. _Lagaan,_ was it? It had something to do with cricket.

"Good day to you, young sir! The name's Benjamin Rochester, but you may call me Ben!"

"Cool," said Buck, though something about these guys didn't sit quite right with him.

The black haired lady looked like she could have been one of those video game special forces snipers. The other two didn't look that remarkable; one of them was bald while the other had freckles and a red afro.

Come to think of it, they all looked pretty well built, though none of them were quite as buff as that Riku kid.

Mayor Dewey looked from over his desk, "So what are you all here for?"

"Well," said Ben, "the four of us were just passing through the area, but we couldn't help but notice the strange cars gathered around this building."

"You hear the news?" said Buck.

"Maybe," said the woman.

"Yes, it's rather unfortunate that that happened. We are just simple paranormal enthusiasts after all."

"So you're looking for info about the Crystal Gems?" Buck asked.

"Why yes, actually!" said Mr. Rochester. "Well, first we were planning on interviewing someone who might know more about them."

"So you've come to ask me?" asked Buck's dad.

"Well, to be honest," said Ben, "that wasn't what we originally had in mind…"

"It wasn't?" Mayor Dewey replied. "Who could possibly be more knowledgeable about this town than I, the mayor of Beach City?"

"Dad!" said Buck.

"The thought simply hadn't crossed our minds," said Ben. "But I do suppose this is too good an opportunity to pass up. What do you folks know about these 'Crystal Gems?'"

"They're pretty cool," said Buck.

"A bunch of troublemakers they all are," his dad added.

"Troublemakers, you say?" said Ben, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Every strange happening that goes on in this town involves the Gems in some shape or form," said Mayor Dewey.

"Yes, that much seems clear," said Ben. "I don't suppose they were related to whatever _those_ things were."

" _Those_ things?" asked Buck's dad.

 _They're probably talking about the Heartless._

Come to think of it, Buck had never actually seen one of those things up close, though he thought he might have seen a few while watching the news.

"Yes," said Ben, "they were a rather peculiar sight indeed. Our car broke down in the middle of the night, and we were left stranded in the middle of nowhere. We tried to set up our own campfire, but then we started to see these small, pitch-black creatures with beady yellow eyes."

"Yeah," said the guy with the red afro, "they were pretty scary."

Buck found it a bit strange that Ben seemed to be talking the most while the others weren't saying all that much, as if he had speaking for the rest of them. Come to think of it, the other guys hadn't even introduced themselves.

"Did they attack you?" Buck asked.

The woman seemed to glance toward Ben.

The bald guy began to say, "Well…"

Ben immediately interrupted the other guy, "Well that's the strange thing about it. Normally when you encounter unspeakable abominations from beyond the abyss, you'd expect them to attack you. But they didn't! They stayed their distance, as if warded by the fire we had just created."

"Though it could have just as easily been that Philly cheesesteak sandwich Bart over here left over from dinner," the woman added.

"Yes!" Ben exclaimed, before turning his voice dry and deadpan, "I mean yes, it could have just as easily been that daft odor from that wretched sandwich."

"Well," said Bart, the bald guy, "I did think keeping it with would bring good luck."

"You really are an idiot," said the redhead.

Something still didn't sit quite right with Buck about this story, but maybe he was just being paranoid.

"By the way," said Buck, "I don't think we ever got all your names."

"Mary Byrd," the woman said bluntly.

"I'm Chuck Testa…rossa," the redhead said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Buck couldn't help but notice the way the guy paused. Something about the name also seemed kinda familiar, but the boy couldn't quite figure out where he would've heard it from.

"And I'm Bart Simpson!" the bald guy said enthusiastically.

The other guys looked like they had seen a ghost.

Even Buck's dad couldn't help but let out a sharp laugh. "Wait, your name is actually Bart Simpson?"

Ben groaned, "Yes, it really is an unfortunate coincidence.

"But back to the topic at hand, would either of you happen to know where the Gems might be at this fine hour?"

"Well, they could be anywhere right now," said Buck.

It was technically true, but there was more to it than that. The government agents said they needed the Gems for something, but everyone was supposed to keep quiet about it. Buck may have been a rebel, but even he knew it wouldn't be in his best interests to speak out about something like this.

"Usually they just sorta do their own thing, with saving the world and all," Buck continued.

"That is a rather interesting occupation," said Ben. "Before we take our leave, I just have one more question to ask both of you."

"What question would that be?" asked Mayor Dewey.

"Would either of you happen to know anything about the disappearance of Andrew DeMayo?"

"Can't say I do," said Buck.

"The name sounds vaguely familiar," said Buck's dad. "I would have to look into it."

"If you do happen to find anything, be sure to give us a call. Speaking of which, would you happen to have something I can write on?"

"Right here."

As Ben made his way toward the mayor's desk, Mayor Dewey passed a notepad and pen over to him. Ben wrote down his phone number and then passed the note to Buck's dad.

"Thank you for your time, Mayor Dewey."

"I do hope you enjoy your visit here."

The two men shook hands.

"Well, we'd best be on our way. Cheerio!"

As Ben and his… subordinates made their way out of the office, Ben briefly turned around and added, "Oh, and do be on your guard. If the rumors are true, there are more _layers_ to this mystery than you might think."

The door closed.

 _Wonder what he meant by that._

Though, putting two and two together, it probably had something to do with Ronaldo and his conspiracy theories.

* * *

While on their journey back to the military base, there was movement underneath the sheets.

"Lea!" Steven shouted excitedly.

"That was fast," Pearl remarked.

"Looks like you're finally up," said Riku.

Lea let out a pained groan, but nevertheless managed to upright himself.

"Man that hurts."

Riku summoned out his keyblade and then applied a healing spell to Lea, likely the same one used to heal Stevonnie.

"Thanks," said Lea. "So what did I miss?"

"Your friend here was just telling us about this 'Organization,'" said Agent Thompson.

"Yes, but most of their members should be gone by now," said Riku.

By that of course, he meant that their leading "Nobodies" had been defeated. From what Riku said, they were supposed to be the leftover husks of a person's body after their hearts had been taken to form a Heartless. Despite their unnatural nature, Agent Thompson argued that their quest to acquire hearts was admirable in a sense, though he did not approve of the methods used to acquire said hearts.

Lea simply nodded.

Despite this new information, many questions still remained.

"So who is this Larxene person?" Connie asked.

"She used to be part of the Organization," said Lea.

"I take it she was one of the ones guarding Castle Oblivion?" said Riku.

 _He did mention something about a castle before,_ Connie thought to herself.

"Yeah," said Lea. "I'm not sure what her actual name was, but she was one of the later recruits."

 _Wouldn't that imply he worked with the Organization at one point? Didn't Riku say that group was only for especially powerful Nobodies?_

"What do you mean by that?" Connie asked.

"They probably had codenames or something like that," said Amethyst.

"Our names were given to us upon entry to the Organization," said Lea.

 _That confirms it, but that still doesn't explain everything._

"So you were a spy?" said Agent Thompson.

"Not exactly," said Lea, "though I did some of that kind of stuff while in the Organization."

"What he means is that his Nobody, Axel, was part of the Organization," said Riku.

"Oh," Connie uttered.

"Most of us still have memories from the time when we were Nobodies, even though they're not really us."

"That sounds kinda like fusion," Amethyst remarked.

Connie had to agree with that, seeing as she still had memories of her time as Stevonnie.

"Except, not really," added Lapis.

"So the Larxene we met in the forest was her human self instead of this 'Nobody' as you call it?" said Pearl.

Lea looked down and then folded his arms, as if something about Pearl's conclusion didn't quite line up with reality.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Steven.

"I think there's more we need to hear from him," said Agent Thompson.

"That's the thing. Larxene isn't the only one I saw."

"Huh?" uttered Amethyst.

"Wait, are you talking about Kevin?" Connie asked. There was no one else he could have possibly been talking about.

"I'm not talking about that boy," said Lea.

"But who else would you be talking about?" said Pearl. "Besides the seven of us and our two adversaries, there was no one else out there."

"Was there someone else out there that we didn't see?" said Steven.

"I think we all would have noticed if there was someone else nearby," Lapis remarked. "The forest was practically cut down after that fight was over."

For a moment, Lea folded his arms and closed his eyes, before opening them once more.

"Tell me," said Lea, "did any of you happen to see her face?"

"Her… face?" Amethyst uttered.

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" asked Pearl.

Connie had been too far away to actually see the mysterious woman's face during that fight, and it had been obscured underneath the shadow of her hood.

 _Did he see something different?_

However, when Connie happened to glance at Riku, something about the way he leaned back and crossed his arms implied he knew something.

"I think I see what you're getting at," said Riku.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Connie asked.

"We're dealing with a replica."

"A what now?"

"While the Organization still had Castle Oblivion, they performed experiments on memory."

"You mean like psychological experiments?" Connie asked.

Despite her young age, Connie had some familiarity with the field of psychology, though she had no idea why some nefarious organization would want to devote so much time to making memorization tests.

"Something like that," said Lea.

"I had to face a clone constructed from my own memories while ascending through that place," said Riku.

 _So there was bioengineering involved as well._

"Speaking of which," Riku continued, "there was another replica, constructed from Sora's memories."

"Wait," said Amethyst, "who's Sora again?"

"You know," said Steven, "as in Sora, Donald and Goofy."

Of course, only Steven would remember something like that.

"Now that I think of it," said Lea, "I think I remember who that other face belonged to. The three used to eat ice cream on top of the clock tower after missions. Roxas, Xion and I."

"Xion!" Riku exclaimed.

"Shion?" Pearl said.

"What about Roxas?" said Steven, wondering why no one else found any significance in the other name.

"Roxas was Sora's Nobody," said Riku, raising his arm as if to hold up his own keyblade. "As for Xion, the Organization created her so that they could harness the power of the power of the keyblade."

"So they could collect hearts for this 'Kingdom Hearts,'" Agent Thompson added.

"We had to take down Xion and Roxas so that Sora could be whole again. I was the one who took down Roxas, though I don't remember what happened to Xion. She sorta just… disappeared."

"Yeah, that's the strange thing," said Lea. "What is she doing _here_ of all places, and why am I only remembering her now?"

"I suspect that once she was returned to Sora, our memories of her must have disappeared along with her," said Riku.

"I don't think memories work like that," Pearl remarked.

"Maybe it's something specific to where they come from," said Steven.

That could be true, but it was hard to conceive that something like one's memories could be dependent on other peoples' existences.

"Anyway, now that this replica has returned," Riku continued, "this must mean our enemies, this so-called Shrekpire, must have captured Castle Oblivion, and likely Sora as well. Otherwise, how would they be able to accomplish something like this?"

"The same way they must have manufactured those keyblades," Lapis suggested.

"You make a good point," Lea replied.

"Well," said Agent Thompson, "perhaps if we had some time to inspect these keyblades, we might be able to determine if such a method is possible."

Speaking of which, Peridot was still back at the military base. She wasn't really good enough with her skills to be effective in battle, so the military guys were probably having her develop weapons using gem technology. Connie just hoped nothing too bad would come out of it.

"Okay, so this Larxene-Xion person is this 'replica' or whatever," said Amethyst, "but why is this such a big deal?"

"Well," said Steven, "it's one more thing we know about this person."

"Yes," said Agent Thompson, "putting this together, it's likely this Shrekpire is using this method to assemble some sort of clone army, but I don't see why they wouldn't go for a more conventional route."

"Conventional what?" said Amethyst.

"Something like you'd see in Star Wars. Test tubes and all."

Agent Thompson probably meant something more along the lines of how actual cloning was supposed to work, instead of whatever Riku and Lea were trying to describe.

"Oh, I see," said Steven.

"I think I see what you're getting at," said Lea, "but that doesn't really explain why I saw Larxene, as she isn't really connected to Sora in any way."

"Maybe this replica also has memories of Larxene," Connie suggested.

"Yeah," said Lea, "but why her of all people? Out of anyone, Larxene is one of the last people I'd want to make copies of. Maybe her skill set might be useful, but she's kind of…"

"A thorn in your side?" Agent Thompson finished.

"Yeah, that."

"This certainly does raise a lot of questions," said Pearl. "You're certain she's not related to this Sora or Xion person?"

"Well Sora did fight her a few times in Castle Oblivion, but I don't think he'd remember anything."

"I'll take your word for it."

Compared to the gem magic Connie was used to seeing, the way stuff worked in Riku and Lea's dimension was kinda weird.

"Agent Thompson," said the pilot in front, "we should be landing at the base in ten minutes."

"Splendid," said the agent. "Be sure to buckle your seats everyone."

Connie checked to see that her straps were buckled, and they were, though Riku and Amethyst begrudgingly listened to the Agent's advice.

"Once we land," said Agent Thompson, "we'll have the doctors perform a brief check up on everyone, especially that poor lion over there. Then you can walk home free."

 _Well, I'll finally be able to call my parents._

"And what about us?" Lea asked.

"Oh, right. One of our headquarters should be stationed near Beach City, so if you have trouble finding someplace to stay, you're welcome to stay with us. Just try not to wreak any havoc."

"You could stay with us," said Steven.

"Don't worry about us," said Riku, "we should be able to handle ourselves."

"But what about those… keyblade warriors you mentioned earlier?" Pearl asked.

"Hmm…" Riku uttered.

"We'll keep an eye out for any suspicious activity," said Agent Thompson. "Even if they're shape-shifting aliens from another planet, I'm sure they'll leave behind some kind of trail."

He could have just as easily been talking about the Gems.

"Thanks," said Riku.

"Now let's get you all patched up," said the agent.

Within minutes, the copter had landed at the airbase. The loading dock whirred open, and once outside, Connie saw Peridot waving at everyone, holding a duffel bag in her other hand.

"Welcome back, friends! How was your little adventure?"

"Surprisingly easy," Lea uttered, despite lying in a stretcher.

"By the way," Connie asked, "what's in the bag?"

"The humans in this facility were kind enough to provide me with materials for reconstructing my limb enhancers. They are not quite finished, but I have completed most of the schematics and have assembled the basic structure, even with your cumbersome human ways of doing things," said Peridot.

Once Steven and Riku had finished moving Lion out of the transport, Peridot turned to the beast and said, "What happened to him?"

"He took quite a bit of beating," said Riku. "But he should be better in no time."

"We ran into this… 'replica' thing while we were out there," said Connie.

"You folks can discuss this when you get inside," said Agent Thompson. "I'd rather not have you dilly-dally longer than necessary."

 _Right._

Although there wasn't that much activity aside from the copters that escorted them, they were standing in the middle of an airfield.

"I'm kinda hungry anyway," said Steven.

Come to think of it, Connie hadn't had anything to eat since that morning. She was surprised she hadn't noticed anything until now.

"Make that two," said Amethyst.

"And three," said Lea as he sprung out of the stretcher and ran towards the base. "Come on, what are you all waiting for?"

* * *

Once they had gone through the debriefing and finished their extremely late lunch, Connie, Steven, Riku, Lea, and the Gems finally made their way back to the nearest warp pad. Thanks partly to Riku's healing magic, Lion was back on his four feet, though he opted to walk back with the others instead of using his powers of teleportation.

 _This has been a long day._

Steven, Pearl, Connie, and Amethyst were the first to step onto the warp pad.

When they returned to the Beach House, two armored figures, one lime-green and one a dark navy blue, stood within sight, the former looking out the front window and the latter resting on the couch.

"What the…" Amethyst uttered aloud.

"Where's Garnet?" whispered Pearl.

"Who are you people?" Steven yelled.

The green figure turned back from its watch, summoning a silver keyblade in its right hand. Although Connie didn't think much of it, the green-armored figure held its keyblade opposite of how Riku and Connie normally held their blades.

The navy-armored figure planted their foot on the table, cracking it in half, and then leap towards Steven, Connie, and the others.

A black keyblade, similar to the one Larxene-Xion held, materialized in the blue warrior's hand.

The warrior then lifted their keyblade up. A spark of black magic burst from it, and for a brief second, a circle of light and darkness flashed underneath the warrior.

Connie suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground.

"Whaa!"

"What is the meaning of all this?" Pearl cried out.

From the looks of things, the others seemed to have been caught in whatever spell the warrior had used. No matter how hard everyone struggled, they all seemed to be helpless as they levitated in place.

"Oh snap!" the green-armor figure uttered. The voice had a high-pitched, nasally quality, though it definitely belonged to a guy.

Seconds later, Peridot, Lapis, Riku, and Lea materialized in the warp pad underneath them.

"Well," said the navy-armored warrior, a stern-voiced woman, "looks like we've found our target."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for another long delay. Chapter is kinda info-dumpy, though it's kinda expected that everyone would be talking about stuff. I just hope I didn't accidentally miss/skip over anything too important while writing this.**

 **Anyway, hope you all are still keeping up with this.**


	8. It's Party Time

Riku and Lea immediately summoned out their weapons.

Once the navy warrior's spell had reached the end of its duration, Connie and the others felt themselves falling back down.

 _ **-SLAM!-**_

When Connie looked up, she saw the green warrior rolling towards the warp pad, sparks flying with each roll.

Riku and Lea had taken a few steps forward, but they were caught up in the warrior's lightning roll.

"Grrgh!" Riku uttered.

The green warrior suddenly stopped, raised his keyblade up, and then conjured a miniature, wispy green tornado out of nowhere, which quickly engulfed everyone but the two armored keyblade warriors.

 _So this is the power that Riku was talking about._

But just as suddenly, the whirling wind seemed to stop. Connie found herself inside Steven's bubble along with everyone else, who then came crashing down onto the bubble's floor, though it still remained adrift inside the green tornado.

Connie then heard the door to the inner temple open behind her.

"Ah, splendid timing!"

"Sir!" the navy warrior said, making a salute.

When Connie looked back, she saw a third, red-armored warrior carrying a large, metallic capsule.

"How did he even…" Pearl began to say.

"I could have done it any number of ways, my dear Pearl," said the red-armored warrior.

"Soldiers, I applaud your efforts and efficiency in capturing the boy Riku… and his companions. The Ogrelord would be pleased with your performance."

"Ogrelord…" Connie muttered.

Despite having heard that word before, she was still amazed at how these people took such a ridiculously lame pun so seriously. Even she was starting to take it seriously.

"Ah," said the red-coated leader, "so you _have_ heard of the greatness that is Shrek!"

"Yeah," said the green warrior, "he's pretty goddamn great."

"Shrek is love," the navy warrior said with utmost solemnity. "Shrek is life."

Connie could hear Riku seething with anger.

"Yeah," said Amethyst, "Riku might have told us a couple things about him… like how much he sucks! Ohhhhhh…!"

"Do not dare make a mockery of our Ogrelord and savior!" said the red warrior. "It is only natural that the boy would provide you with such a false opinion, when he is in fact the creation of Lord Farquaad!"

"Lord Farquaad?" Connie thought aloud.

Connie tried thinking back to that strange TV show she watched with Steven and the gems, but she couldn't remember anyone by that name.

"This is something new," said Riku.

"Do you think this has something to do with that show you guys watched?" Pearl asked.

"A show, you say?" the red warrior said.

"What show are you talking about?" asked Lea.

"You know, that show we saw just yesterday," said Steven.

"I don't think he was here when you explained that," said Pearl.

Just then, the green warrior's tornado had dissipated, causing Steven's bubble to crash into the floor. Steven, Pearl, Amethyst and the other gems were able to control their descent, though Connie and the others slammed into the ground upon impact.

"Ow!" Connie cried out.

The red warrior stepped forward, and tried applying a spell similar to the one the navy warrior applied earlier, though it seemed to have no effect.

"That's unusual. But nevertheless, you folks seem to be in a bit of a pickle."

The other two warriors got into fighting positions around the bubble.

The red warrior then pressed a button along his left forearm, causing a flip-phone-like flap to open up.

"Regardless of if you somehow manage to liberate yourselves, we have taken additional precautionary measures."

It didn't really take a genius to figure out what those precautions were.

"Your father," the red warrior continued, "Mr. Greg Universe, and your third compatriot are currently being held by one of our companions. Much like your so-called 'Smart-Phones,' our suits can communicate with each other instantaneously. Dim-witted as me may be, our friend is perfectly capable of handling himself, and as you might know already, your fellow gem is currently incapacitated. If you do not hand over the boys Riku and Axel…"

"Lea you mean," said the navy warrior.

"…peacefully, Greg and Garnet's lives shall be considered forfeit."

Connie and Steven looked on in shock, though the others simply watched angrily, readying their weapons for when the opportunity presented itself.

 _What can we do in this situation? Even if we escape, they'll just use that anti-gravity spell, and not even the gems have a way of dealing with that._

Though, why didn't the spell work through Steven's bubble?

"It is a shame that we would have to kill someone who has so recently been touched by Shrek's divine ogre love, but these are circumstances we find ourselves in."

 _What was that supposed to mean?_

When Connie looked towards Steven, she saw him reaching one of his hand up to his mouth, as if to bite his own nails. Pearl also seemed to turn towards Steven with an expression of both horror and concern.

Riku then crossed his arms and closed his eyes, and then spoke to Steven, "Garnet and your dad are both important to you, right?"

"Yeah," said Steven.

"Alright," said Riku, "I'll go with you, but only if Greg and Garnet are returned here safe and sound."

"And what about you?" said the red warrior as he turned to Lea.

"I guess I'm on the same boat as him," Lea replied.

"Excellent. A deal is a deal," said the red warrior, who then pressed a few buttons on his armor suit, "Private, return with the two hostages at once. The deal has been done."

"You got it, boss!" a voice responded on the receiver.

"Good."

The red warrior ended the call by pressing another button on his forearm.

 _So just like that, we're handing them over. Is there nothing else we can do?_

They were safe in Steven's bubble for the time being, but so long as those warriors had Garnet and Greg hostage, and so long as there was no way to counter the pursuit force's magic, there was not much they could do.

The red warrior then held out the capsule in his arms to the green warrior.

"Would you mind holding onto this?"

"No problemo," said the green warrior.

"What is that anyway?" asked Amethyst.

"It certainly doesn't resemble Homeworld technology," said Peridot.

The metal capsule, comprised of two half-spheres bolted together and a handle on top, looked like it was supposed to be some kind of pressurized container or bomb, though it wasn't clear what it was supposed to do.

Though, on a second reflection, it looked like it was just about big enough to contain one of the bubbles the gems used to hold other objects in.

"This is a piece of advanced Shrekpire technology," said the red warrior. "I'm afraid I can't divulge its current uses in the event we might have to use it against you."

There was a pause before the red warrior continued.

"Well," he said, taking a look at a small screen on his wrist, "we have time to spare until our comrade gets here, so why don't we have a little chat?"

"You could tell us what that thing does," said Connie.

"Nice try, but we shan't fall for your petty tricks."

Something about this situation reminded Connie about all those times the villains tend to reveal all their plans to the heroes when they think they've won, though these guys didn't seem to be the ones behind everything.

"Why are you after Riku and his friends?" Steven said. "They didn't do anything wrong! And why are you releasing all these Heartless into our worlds?"

"We do not have any direct interest in these things you call 'Heartless,'" said the red warrior. "Most likely, their presence is the result of the boy Riku's attempts to escape us. You see, we cannot allow the boy to go wandering willy-nilly, as his adventures might produce complications that could hinder the Shrekpire's ogre-all natural growth.

"But there is another, more important reason that we are after him. For you see, Riku and the denizens of his world are the creations of Lord Farquaad, and as Lord Farquaad is the enemy of Shrek, we must work to purify the multiverse of his wretched taint!"

"But that's just like…" Pearl was about to say.

"Homeworld…" Steven finished. "Why would you do something like this?"

"Because Shrek is the love and life that illuminates our souls!" said the red warrior. "Folks like you would never understand… not when you have never experienced Shrek's divine ogre love.

"Because without Shrek's love, you can never see the multiverse as it truly is… and thus experience true happiness.

"That is why we must fight against those who would declare themselves the enemies of the ogrelord."

"Shrek is love," said his two underlings, "Shrek is life."

"Of these, there are four who reign supreme: Lord Farquaad, who violated the sanctity of Shrek's Swamp; The Fairy Godmother, who tried to wed Princess Fiona to her son and imprisoned Shrek in her evil sex dungeon; Prince Charming, who tried to take Princess Fiona's hand by force; and Rumpelstiltskin, who tried to take Shrek's life away from him just so he could declare himself king.

"So long as these four horsemen of the apocalypse continue to lurk under the folds of time and space, we, disciples of Shrek's divine wisdom, must always stay vigilant and defeat those who would align themselves under their banners."

 _So this is why they are after those two._

Connie was still trying to make sense of the red warrior's outrageous claims, though doing so was beyond difficult.

"So you think we're aligned with this Lord Farquaad guy?" said Riku.

"It is irrefutable fact!" the red warrior replied.

"But we've never even heard of the guy until now," said Lea.

"Tell me, boy, who is the man or mouse who now rules over your precious 'Kingdom?'"

"You mean…"

"King Mickey," Riku said aloud.

"Yes, the all too infamous Mickey Mouse," said the red warrior. "Like his fellow horsemen, Lord Farquaad has lived through countless lifetimes, many of which are unknown even to us."

"You mean something like reincarnation?" Connie asked.

She honestly had no idea how these people would be capable of verifying something like this, but then again things were likely different outside this universe.

"You might call it that," said the navy warrior.

"Yes, but one thing is certain," the red warrior continued. "During one of these lifetimes, perhaps even during the time of The Great Shrekoning, Lord Farquaad gave birth to a creature known as Mickey Mouse, who would form the basis of his diabolical Disney Empire."

 _Disney, huh?_

Something about the name seemed familiar to Connie, though she couldn't quite place where she had heard it before.

"Looks like there's no reasoning with these folk," Lea said with his arms crossed.

"You're not really in a position to talk right now," said the green warrior.

"Besides, it's all true," said the navy warrior.

"I would appreciate it if you folks did not interrupt me while I'm talking," said their leader. "These inhabitants wish to hear our side of the story, so I shall give it to them, common courtesy and all."

"Just get it over with already," said Lapis.

"Ah, yes, now where was I? It was thanks to this creation, the 'all so benevolent' Mickey Mouse, that Lord Farquaad was able to seize control of Shrek's Swamp, and use it as his dumping ground for 'unwanted Fairy Tale Creatures.'

"Now, some may believe that without Mickey Mouse, we would not have anime as we know it, but these claims are ludicrous."

"Anime…?" Connie uttered.

"Now that you mention it," said Peridot, "I believe I have heard that term used at some point."

"Does this have anything to do with those shows you guys watch?" Amethyst said.

"Yeah, Ronaldo talks about that stuff all the time, that is, when he's not going on about conspiracy stuff." said Steven.

"But what does any of this have to do with Shrek, Lord Farquaad, or Mickey Mouse?" Connie asked.

 _Wait a second, don't Riku and Lea look kinda like anime characters?_

"So these guys haven't experienced it yet," the navy warrior said to her superior.

"Indeed, these folk have not experienced that great upheaval that once afflicted our own world," said the red warrior.

"Care to explain?" Pearl asked.

 _Yeah, it might be interesting to hear what they have to say about this, even if they're our enemies._

"I of course speak of The Great Shrekoning, wherein Shrek had freed us from the tyranny and chaos of The Fairy Godmother and bestowed upon us his ogre love."

"Because of his great deeds," said the navy warrior, "anime is now real for us."

"The stories you might know from books, TV shows, and children's cartoons all became tangible reality on that momentous day," said the red warrior.

"Shrek is love, Shrek is life," the three armored warriors said in unison.

"So is that why…" Connie began to utter.

"The keyblades…" uttered Riku.

"Yes," said the red warrior, "you might have been wondering how it was possible that common folk like us could have gotten a hold of such weapons. I myself do not know the details, but considering how long anime and pony magic have been woven into the fabric of our universe, I do not imagine it would have been difficult to simulate the physical properties of your own universe."

"What?" Amethyst uttered in bored bafflement.

"This just raises even more questions," said Pearl.

"Okay…" said Connie.

Connie was still struggling to take in just what these people were saying.

 _So for these people, the stuff in anime shows became real for them, and on top of that, there is pony magic?_

There was this show about ponies a few years go that had a surprisingly large upsurge in popularity. It sorta just faded out, but there was a time where everyone was talking about it.

Then a thought sparked into Connie's head.

"Wait, did you say you _simulated_ their universe?"

"Not quite, but you have the right picture," said the red warrior.

"So the secret is out huh?" said Lea.

"It is not as though you have the technology to replicate our methods," said the red warrior.

"This is nuts," said Lea.

"The circumstances through which our universe endured were quite exceptional, but because of those circumstances, we are ever stronger. And for that, we give Shrek our thanks."

"Shrek is love. Shrek is life," said the other two warriors.

Out of the corner of Connie's eye, she saw a small, orange figure coming forth from the north side of the beach. As it came close, she could see it carrying what was presumably Greg and Garnet.

Considering how large, and presumably heavy, Garnet was, the figure must have been strong, or the suit was giving them extra strength like some sort of exoskeleton.

"Garnet, Dad!" Steven shouted, even though it was unlikely his voice would reach them.

"Looks like he's back," the green figure remarked as he headed toward the window.

Though if he was carrying them both like that, wouldn't that mean he wouldn't be able to react quickly?

He might drop them, but they weren't in danger of falling.

The navy warrior readied her keyblade.

"They're up to something."

"Of course they would be," said the red warrior, "what do you expect?"

"The hell is in this thing anyway?" the green warrior said as he raised the capsule.

"Put it aside for now." The leader then turned his attention back to everyone inside the bubble, "Remember to keep your end of the bargain. I don't want any more trouble than necessary. Now, Riku, Lea, de-summon your weapons."

The two warriors from another dimension begrudgingly did as they were told.

By this point, the orange warrior had gotten up to the front porch with the bodies of Greg and Garnet. From here, Connie could now see that Greg had been tied up with rope, and his mouth had been shut with duct tape.

"I got 'em right here boss!" said the newcomer.

His voice sounded like it belonged to a cartoon character who was supposed to be a bit of a doofus.

"Ahem!" the red warrior said.

"Oh, right, sorry!"

The orange warrior threw Garnet's body aside, summoned a keyblade with his now free hand, then then pointed it to Greg's head like it was a gun, causing him to let out a muffled shout.

The keyblade in the orange warrior's arm looked more like an actual key, with a long, silver shaft ending in a key-shape and a yellowish-golden knuckle-guard.

At this moment, the red warrior summoned out his own keyblade. It was black, and about as jagged and menacing as the ones Connie had seen already, though its blade portion consisted of two spiked shafts, which joined at the end to form into a fire-ax like "key."

"Now, Steven…" the warrior began to say.

Suddenly, there was a thud outside, and the orange warrior turned his head left as he moved his keyblade away from Greg's head.

Riku suddenly flashed out of existence, and then reappeared just a few feet away from the door.

"Now's our chance!" shouted Steven.

"It's party time!" Lea said as he summoned out his chakrams.

A shimmering barrier, similar to the one Riku had used, appeared around the orange warrior as Lion pounced upon him from out of sight, though almost simultaneously, Riku collided straight into the warrior from the side, causing him to be pushed through the railing and onto the ground below.

As Riku executed his series of strikes, Steven de-summoned his bubble, replacing it with his shield.

The navy warrior moved to prepare her spell, though Amethyst was quick to remove her keyblade from her hands with her whip.

"Not this time, lady!"

The woman was quick to return the keyblade to her own hand, though simultaneously, both of Lea's chakrams came flying towards her.

 _ **-POW!-CHINK!-POW!-**_

"Ow!" Peridot cried out.

"What kind of attack was that?" said Lea.

From miniature compartments on the navy warrior's gauntlets, a pair of shotgun-like shots burst out from them, not only deflecting the chakrams away from her, but landing into the people around Lea, namely Perdiot and Amethyst.

Almost simultaneously, the green warrior began rolling forward, with lightning crackling from him.

"Watch out!" Steven cried out.

In one swift motion, Steven Universe summoned out his shield, and then flung it at the incoming green warrior.

 _ **-CLANG!-**_

The shield struck hard, and the green warrior was sent tumbling back.

"Whoa, nice going Steven!" said Lea.

"The fuck?" cried the green warrior, "What kind of fucking cheap attack was that?"

"You're one to talk," said Lea.

Connie wasn't sure what they were talking about, but she couldn't just stand around while everyone else was fighting, so she summoned out Rose's sword, still maintaining its keyblade form.

"I thought I told you guys to watch out for that bloody lion!" the red warrior seethed.

"We didn't find any goddamn lion!" said the green warrior.

"Yeah," said the navy warrior, grabbing Amethyst's whip and then pulling her close to smash her with her keyblade, "it wasn't here when we last looked."

"It fuckin' teleports!" shouted the red warrior, "Why do think I told you to be on guard at _all_ times?"

As a volley of energy blasts came from Pearl's spear, the red warrior casually jumped and then somehow began to glide through the air upright, all while a thick aura of darkness surrounded him.

 _He just casually shrugged off that attack like it was nothing._

Sure, part of the floor was now blown open, but the red warrior was largely unscathed.

While this was happening, Lapis attempted to fly over the squad of keyblade warriors.

"Where do you think you're going?" the red warrior said with casual annoyance.

Once the red warrior was out of his second wave-dash, he launched himself up high, and then smacked his dark keyblade into Lapis.

"Oof!" she cried out as she was sent hurling down.

"Nice try."

The red warrior's downward momentum rapidly accelerated, and then he plunged his keyblade straight through her, causing her to poof.

"Lapis, Amethyst!" Steven cried out.

Connie then turned her attention back to the fight on the right side of the house. Holding the purple gem in her grip, the navy warrior continued wailing on Amethyst with her keyblade, leaving her with little opportunity to shapeshift or attempt to escape.

"Hang in there!" Pearl cried out as she began to move to strike the navy warrior.

"This looks bad," said Peridot. "Isn't there…"

Though just when Pearl was a few feet away, the navy warrior jumped up and then planted one of her feet into Amethyst's stomach.

 _ **-POW!-**_

In an instant, the navy warrior shot herself back, using the shotgun-like blast from her boots, and landed just on the stairs.

Upon landing, the navy warrior performed another spell with her keyblade.

"Waaaa…!" Pearl began to scream.

"Not again!" said Amethyst.

A few feet away from where the navy warrior was standing, a dark sphere appeared in midair, with a pair of rings made of lighting circling around it. A pair of magic orbs, one red and one blue, circled around each of the rings.

Pearl, Amethyst, and several nearby objects, including Steven's TV, were lifted up and drawn towards the dark sphere, until they crashed together into one spinning ball.

"Hold on," said Peridot as she crept towards the strange sphere, "Let me see if I can…"

Although it looked as though she was trying to use her powers to help, it appeared as though she could not pull anything away from that black hole-like sphere.

Amethyst poofed.

Although it took her a few seconds to realize it, Connie wasn't sure anymore whether there was anything she could do in this situation.

That guy, their leader, cleaved through Lapis so easily, and that one girl alone was rendering Amethyst and Pearl helpless.

She could fight, maybe, but so could these guys, and they had a variety of magic at their disposal too.

She heard an audible clench from Lea.

"These guys aren't joking around," Lea said to himself.

As all this was happening, the red warrior, briefly turned a bit to the side and addressed the green warrior, "Private Almond, fall back and see if you can help our comrade outside."

"Roger," said the green warrior as he stood back up and complied with his order.

The red warrior then returned his attention to the remaining people before him.

"Steven," said Lea, "you wouldn't mind if…"

The red warrior suddenly drew his free hand up, drew his keyblade back, and then waved his free hand towards him, as if beckoning the group to come towards him.

Lea was suddenly lifted from place, and was then sent flying towards the red warrior.

"What the?" Lea uttered.

A light blue spark shined from the tip of the red warrior's keyblade, and then the warrior plunged it straight into Lea.

A sound akin to shattering glass rang throughout the room, and Lea was instantly encased in ice.

Connie simply stood awestruck.

"Lea!" Steven cried out. "Connie, just…"

"This is going to be the end of us…" uttered Peridot, "Our… shattering."

"Effortless, really," said the red warrior. "Why, this is child's play compared to the trials we've endured. Don't worry, that effect is not permanent, but your defeat is already inevitable. To think, all this could have been avoided if you simply played along."

But if they didn't do this, if this Shrekpire was really expanding as they said and killing people for such arbitrary reasons, shouldn't they try to stop them now?

They were powerless against them.

And yet, Riku saw that opening and decided to take it.

Were these warriors truly as invincible as they seemed?

 _Steven's shield…_

The red warrior broke through Connie's train of thought, "Oh, and what do we have here? Another keyblade wielder? I know just the thing to do with you!"

 _Steven was willing to fight, yet why did I lose my courage back there? I had no problem fighting those Heartless, or anything else. Why did I freeze up?_

 _These guys are strong, but if we don't do anything, we'll all end up dead._

 _Maybe we should have handled things differently, but now, there's no going back._

 _If she didn't fight, who would protect the others?_

Connie finally regained her resolve.

"And I won't let you hurt Steven either!"

"Should I help?" said the navy warrior.

It was at this point Connie noticed that neither Amethyst, Pearl, nor their gems were anywhere in sight. Furthermore, the strange black sphere had disappeared, and any objects that had been drawn into it had been smashed, lying on the ground underneath where the sphere had once been.

"No need, Private Black," the red warrior answered, "I have this situation perfectly under control. Take the capsule outside and see if the others are in any need of assistance."

"Understood, sir," the navy warrior said as she began to comply with her orders.

The red warrior turned his free hand outward, as if to push Steven away.

"Odd…"

The red warrior then swept his hand inward and clenched it into a fist.

Connie felt herself being flung forward.

 _I can get through this._

As Connie came close, she tried to upright herself, and then held Rose's sword in front of her.

Connie might not have been as durable as Steven or the Gems, but her keyblade, she might be able to defend herself.

"Hmm…" the red warrior grunted with a hint of satisfaction.

He drew his keyblade back, which began to glow with dark energy.

When he swung it forward, a shimmering barrier appeared before Connie.

 _It worked._

Though despite the barrier managing to deflect his attack, the red warrior continued striking.

Connie watched as the swift strikes continued to smash into her barrier, though none of them seemed to break through.

But then, the warrior began to draw his free hand back, which also began to glow with darkness.

"Your time… is _ogre…"_


	9. Ultimate Muscle

"Connie!" Steven shouted.

The darkness within the red warrior's left forearm grew into a great, shadowy claw, and with a single thrust, the red warrior, the leader of the Shrekpire pursuit force, threw all this dark energy forward with overwhelming force.

 _ **-FWOOOSH!-**_

At the very last moment, Steven had thrown himself right into the brunt of the attack with his shield held forward, and just like that the attack dissipated into thick, black smoke.

If Steven had simply thrown his shield instead, the shield would have likely landed into Connie, or the red warrior would have simply dodged out of the way while he continued his attack from another direction.

Something told Connie that even if she had maintained her guard, that attack would have broken through it anyway.

 _So why did he…_

But Connie already knew the answer to that question.

If Steven had not intervened when he did, Connie would be dead.

Connie may have only just recently been acquainted with keyblades and their powers, but even she could see the power that lay behind that attack.

Even as Steven's momentum drove him forward, the red warrior looked on dumbfounded shock.

"How in the world…?"

Since the red warrior had already committed himself to his attack, Steven's small yet heavy body collided straight into the warrior's arm, causing the two of them to tumble backwards, crash into the high-raised stools over by the counter, and then land near the sofa by the window.

"Way to go, Steven!" Peridot cheered from behind.

As the red warrior slowly began to pry himself back up with his keyblade, Connie cautiously stepped forward, briefly looking back to take note of Lea's currently frozen state.

Though when she looked back forward, she thought she could see a faint glow radiating from Steven's body.

"That attack was supposed to be unblockable!" the red warrior exclaimed. "How could a boy such as you… a bloody cartoon character… even…"

"You better check yourself…" Steven began to say, "before you Shrek yourself."

Although Connie could see neither the eyes nor face of the man who lurked behind that helmet's visor, she knew his face must have been apprehensive with horror.

"No… no…! This cannot be…!"

The navy warrior, still carrying the capsule in her arm, stepped back in through the door after knocking it down with her keyblade.

"Sergeant! Something's…"

" _ **IT'S TIME TO GET RIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPEEDD!"**_

A voice loud enough to carry itself across ten football stadiums boomed throughout the house, with a ruggedness and tenor that could only be matched by the most hardened and ardent of professional wrestlers. Connie thought she could hear Steven's dad say "Holy shit!" or something along those lines, though it didn't fully register in her mind.

The two armored keyblade warriors briefly looked outside, where a hulking, muscle-bound figure the size of Opal or Alexandrite stood near the base of the hill leading up to the beach house.

Each of his muscles was about as thick as a full-sized SUV. His shirt had torn clean off, and his pants had inexplicably stretched to match his great size, but judging by his eyes and hair, it was still undeniably Riku.

Yet, looking deeper, something seemed different, besides literally everything else.

"Oh," was all the leader of the Shrekpire squad could utter.

As Connie felt her legs moving herself forward, she thought she could see Steven reach his arm out toward her.

"Take my lead," said Steven.

She saw Steven Universe looking at her.

"Uh, sure," she said, taking his hand without fully registering what she had done.

 _There's something about those eyes._

But that was not all there was to it. When Connie took Steven's hand into her own, there was something there that wasn't there before.

A certain magnificence.

Connie's trance was broken by the cries of the orange warrior outside, "You're going down!"

"Wait," Connie heard the green warrior say, "Barney, don…"

But the giant, extraordinarily buff Riku lifted both his muscular arms, which held his now relatively tiny keyblade, and then drove them towards the ground nearby.

" _ **HAMMEEER SLLLLAAAAAAAAM!"**_

 _ **-KABOOOM!-**_

The sheer impact of the attack lifted the sand and soil around Riku up like an artillery strike. Shards of Riku's keyblade scattered amidst the debris, and a harsh, metallic crunch could be heard beneath the blast.

"We need to get out of here," the red warrior muttered in quiet shock.

Connie felt a tug on her arm, signaling that now was the time to act.

As Connie and Steven charged for the red warrior, the orange warrior outside leaped high into the air where Connie could see him, and then pointed at the hulking monstrosity of Riku.

" _ **MEGAA FLAAAAAAARE!"**_

The visor of the red warrior turned towards Connie and Steven.

 _ **-FOOOOSH!-POW!-**_

A great explosion, followed by a hard slam, erupted outside, engulfing the front side of Steven's house in flame.

"Ow!" the orange warrior screamed from outside.

" _ **SOLAAR SPEAAAAAR!"**_ Riku's now unusually gruff and baritone voice shouted.

 _ **-FWOOOSH!-**_

Just at the last second, the unknown red warrior tried to dash out of the way of Steven and Connie's combined attack, though Steven was quick to smash his shield into him just as he began to move.

"Guh!"

"Sergeant!"

The navy warrior held her keyblade out and then made a quick fling of it.

Another black hole-like sphere formed in the air, and Connie felt herself being lifted up towards it.

"Hang in there," said Steven.

Just as the navy warrior was about to take aim with her gauntlets, Steven threw his shield right into them.

"Agh!" she shouted, "Ggh! That shield!"

The room began to spin around as Connie clung to and rotated around the strange sphere, which gradually began to stretch her body apart.

"Ungh…"

Connie lost consciousness.

* * *

 _There was a face_

 _Smiling down upon her_

 _She knew that so long as she kept on looking at it_

 _So long as its light continued to shine down upon her_

 _Everything would be alright_

* * *

Connie awoke sometime later in a hospital bed.

"Connie, you're up!"

That voice, it was Steven's.

"Huh?"

Something about the room looked familiar.

 _This is my mom's place._

She wasn't sure how she was able to recognize this place just from the look of it, since hospital rooms tended to look kinda similar, but somehow she knew.

 _What happened?_

There was supposed to have been a few other people with them. Not the gems, though it was unlikely that they would show themselves in this place.

Didn't something happen to them?

That's right, that lady poofed them.

There was that fight.

 _Mom's gonna kill me._

Although Connie could have easily said that aloud, she didn't really have enough energy to do so. She was feeling kinda sleepy as is.

"You're still sorta out of it," she heard Steven say.

Steven must have been trying to say something while she was still trying to collect her thoughts. The painkillers must have been having that effect.

"Did we… win?"

"Not really…" said Steven. "They've got Pearl and Amethyst, and the guys are still looking for them."

"What guys?" Connie said.

"You know, Agent Thompson and those guys.

"But… at least a few of us are alright. Lea's back up, though Lapis is still regenerating. If it wasn't for Riku, I'm not sure if we would have been able to survive this."

 _He's not the only one…_

Then she remembered how the whole fight had started, when Riku rushed at the orange fighter.

"Why did he do that…?"

"Do what?"

"Do you think all this could have been avoided somehow?"

"I don't know. All I know is that, now that they've got Amethyst and Pearl, we'll have to fight them."

"They're gone, huh," said Connie.

Now that she thought of it, there was a brief moment during that fight where the gems seemed to have disappeared.

"Yeah," said Steven. "But on the bright side, we got a few of them."

"You mean Riku defeated them?"

"I guess so. The government guys were dragging them into their van."

 _Wait, but then that means only one of them escaped, and somehow we managed to defeat the other guys._

"What happened while I was… out?"

"I'm not actually sure. I sorta blacked out too. All I remember is that the red guy was about to do that move, and I just had to protect you from him. The next thing I know, I'm outside, with the house on fire. I don't know what happened, but you didn't look so well."

 _He doesn't remember either._

Something seemed different about him back then, like there was someone else inside him.

Was that Rose?

But why would she have said something like that?

Why would she invoke the god of their enemy?

Riku must have experienced something similar as well, something that transformed him into whatever _that_ was.

Whatever it was, it was thanks to that they were still alive.

"I tried healing you with my spit, and it seemed to have worked," Steven continued. "Then the government guys showed up and took us all here."

"Did Riku or any of the others say anything?" Connie asked.

"Riku didn't say anything, though I think the others said something about Riku turning into a giant. I guess it explains why his clothes were all torn up. Lea says he's never seen anything like it before, so I don't really know how he was able to do something like that without something like fusion."

Connie tried to recall just what she had seen. Riku was usually stoic like Garnet, but somehow he had turned into a gigantic, ham-fisted wrestler during that fight.

Those Shrekpire folks had said something about being able to simulate the properties of another universe, but to be able to do that, they must have known what those properties were in the first place.

They said that, because of whatever that thing was, stories in books, TV shows, and cartoons became real for them.

 _A cartoon character._

 _What did these people know?_

There was that show Connie, Steven, and the gems saw earlier. The one about Giantdad.

Didn't Riku kinda act like that superhero?

Maybe he didn't use the same phrases, but during that fight, Riku seemed just as bombastic as that guy. Connie didn't see what happened, but something about that last fight they watched seemed unusually similar to what Connie and the others had just experienced. Just when almost everyone else had been defeated, Riku ascended into that form.

 _A giant._

Was that show trying to tell them something?

Connie's mind seemed to drift in this train of thought, until the door finally opened.

"Connie, thank goodness you're alright!"

As Connie sat upright, she felt the form of her mother wrap around her body.

Although she was an experienced doctor, there were probably ethical reasons why Connie's mother didn't operate on her, assuming that was the case. Connie couldn't quite remember at the moment.

"I know you sorta have saving the world things to do, but could you be a bit more careful next time?" said Connie's mother.

"I know," said Connie, unable to muster up the thoughts to explain just what had happened.

"The actual mission wasn't that bad," said Steven. "It's just… we sorta got attacked in our own home."

"But don't you have the gems to protect you?" protested Connie's mother.

"About that…" Connie began.

"They're gone," said Steven.

"Yes Dr. Maheswaran," said Agent Thompson as he filed into the room, "the foes these kids faced today were on an entirely different level. It was only thanks to a miracle that they were able to stand a chance, but it is thanks to that very miracle that we now have the upper hand."

Lea walked in through the door behind Agent Thompson.

"Oh," replied Connie's mom.

There was a strange silence over her, as her mother would usually ask more questions.

"Uh, sup?" said Lea.

"Where's dad, and Peridot?" Connie asked.

Connie didn't bother asking about Riku, as the government guys were probably asking him questions about what happened at the beach house.

"Your father is here, though he's talking with some of the other F.B.I. folks," said Connie's mom.

"Yes," said Agent Thompson, "he seemed very interested in the circumstances that have happened over the past few days."

"What about Perdiot?" Connie repeated.

"Dunno what she's up to," said Lea.

"I think she needs some time to herself," said Steven.

"If it's of any interest to you," said Agent Thompson, "we've also brought Garnet here."

 _The house did kinda burn down after all._

Though now that there were so few of them left, who would be left to protect the temple and Beach City?

"So what do we do now?" said Connie.

"It would be wise for you folks to rest for now. Our analysis on those energy signatures in the Ozarks should be finished sometime soon, and we may be able to yield some new information by analyzing the alien battlesuits. I know these past few days have been taxing on your minds and bodies, but I'm afraid we've found ourselves in strange times. I hope the day will come when we will no longer require your services."

"But what about Pearl and Amethyst," said Steven. "We have to go out and find them!"

"I'm afraid there's not much we can do right now without further information. Until then, we will just have to wait, and find out what we can about this new menace. To think, first it's the Heartless, and now these warriors from a whole 'nother dimension.

"These are strange times indeed."

* * *

Private Indigo Black had been propelling herself through the thick forestry, careful to conserve what ammunition she had left.

To think, even someone like Seymour would be taken down by that… monster.

How could a young boy gain so much power in such a short span of time?

There were stories, of warriors with such raw strength and speed that they could glide through the air as if they were teleporting. Riku didn't quite match the description, but Indigo had witnessed that sort of power through the movies of ancient times.

 _All legends and prophesies have truth buried within them. It's only a matter of finding where that truth applies, that we can truly understand them._

This was the truth behind all things. The truth that Shrek made reality.

 _Shrek is love, Shrek is life._

Yet evidently, the four of them had misjudged the foe they faced. Barney and Chester fallen in battle, and their keyblades and armor had shattered. The Sergeant let his pride overtake him, and as such, he had been crushed.

Indigo fled the first moment she could, without sparing a moment to try and rescue her comrades.

There was no saving them.

She had expected that the fight against Riku would have been difficult, she had known as much from her training simulations, but nothing had prepared her to take on this kind of foe.

Now, she was on her own.

She didn't fear the consequences of reporting the pursuit squad's failure, though trying to find her way back into the Shrekpire's borders would prove a challenge all on its own.

She had no idea where the gate to the previous world even was, and their exit points didn't always correspond to where the gate back would be.

So far, she hadn't found any rifts, though she didn't expect she would have to go around looking for them.

Private Black had taken the precaution of removing the suit's in-built computer and signaling system, on the off-chance the locals figured out how to isolate it from the billions of other devices that probably existed in this world.

Now all that was left to do was wander and survive.

Speaking of the equipment Indigo had on her, she was still carrying that pressurized capsule the Sergeant had her hold onto, after Chester had left it behind during the fight. Indigo had no idea what was supposed to be in this thing, but whatever it was, it seemed to be important.

Sergeant Seymour obviously knew a lot more about this "Steven Universe" universe than she did.

Indigo half wanted to see what was inside it, though it could also contain something dangerous. She'd have to wait until she could get one of those rigs that could see what was inside this thing.

 _Though… it might not hurt…_

"Going somewhere?"

A voice she did not recognize.

Indigo dropped the capsule, and then summoned out her keyblade, a standard Oblivion model. It could be a bit cumbersome to use at times, but it had its uses.

"Who's there?"

When she turned around, she saw a black-coated figure. From what she remembered from Kingdom Hearts lore, the coats were supposed to shield their users from darkness, though the armor suits used by most Kingdom Hearts Invasion personnel were more suited to general combat.

The woman standing before her had long, wavy black hair which flowed over her right shoulder, and her blue eyes had a certain intensity behind them.

"You must be one of the goons tasked with capturing Riku and the other boy."

She must have been somewhere higher up on the Shrekpire's chain of command. Otherwise how would she know about the mission?

"Where's the rest of your squad?" said the woman.

"Defeated in action," Indigo said bluntly. "I couldn't verify their deaths."

"Ah yes, that's a shame isn't it," the woman said nonchalantly. "Had a bit of trouble by the beach, didn't you?"

Wait, how did she know about what happened? Where would she have seen the battle from?

Though, if she knew that, why did she ask where the others were?

Furthermore, how did this woman even get into this dimension? Riku was the one who opened the initial rift; only Sergeant Seymour's team and those with Riku would have known about this.

"I see you don't quite trust me," said the woman. "Don't worry, I'm on your side. If I wasn't I would have killed you without second thought."

"Who are you, anyway?" Indigo asked.

"I go by Maelstrom. Who I am and what I do are not things you need to concern yourself with."

 _So you're some sort of spy._

Although Maelstrom did not appear to be wielding a keyblade currently, she would likely have some sort of equipment that allowed her to breach into other dimensions, similar to what the Shrekpire used forming gateways to other worlds.

It was not equipment to be taken lightly, as it could be dangerous in the hands of those who would oppose the Shrekpire and everything that the Ogrelord stood for.

"Now that I've introduced myself," the woman continued, "I suppose I ought to have the right to know your name as well."

"Private Indigo Black, sir!"

Maelstrom seemed to smile upon hearing this.

"Good. Now, I have some information that might be pertinent to your mission."

Indigo nodded, and Maelstrom continued.

"I have noticed some strange things about this world."

"How so?" Indigo asked.

It wasn't that unexpected to see strange things while traveling through the multiverse. Heck, even the whole mechanics behind how hearts and memories worked in the Kingdom Hearts cluster world could seem a bit alien at times.

If so, how was this world different from any other?

"Have you noticed that this world's inhabitants seem unusually resistant to the Heartless?" Maelstrom continued.

"Can't say I've met that many people here."

Now that she thought of it, there seemed to be an unusually low number of Heartless when they traveled through the area. It didn't seem like there were that many in the first place, as they were likely filtering in through the rifts Riku opened up, but usually the locals had more trouble with them until someone got involved.

Well, except for that "Boss Heartless" type, though that was likely created by someone already attuned to "darkness" or villainy.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" said Indigo.

"You noticed something, didn't you?"

 _That shield._

Even though it looked just like your average magical shield, it was strong enough to break through her block. Come to think of it, it also managed to break through Chester's lighting roll, even though he could dodge most techniques with it. If it wasn't for her armor, it would have broken through her layers.

"I did," Indigo replied.

"The boy possesses a strange power within him, though I cannot fathom what it is," said Maelstrom. "It seems likely that, if Riku had not met Steven Universe, he would not have been able to take on that form."

"You think Steven was the cause of… that?"

Even as strange as these circumstances were, it was still strange to think a boy like that, even with that strange power of his, would have allowed Riku to take on that hulking, ogre-sized form.

"I do," Maelstrom seemed to reply with disinterest.

As skeptical as Indigo was of these claims, there was not much she could do but accept them as face value, as it was clear this Maelstrom person knew more about the situation.

The black-coat woman then turned around and began to walk away.

"I would keep an eye on the boy if I were you. The local authorities of this world will likely be trying to track you down, so I shall play my part and help you escape, or at least distract them long enough for you to get your bearings."

"You're willing to do that?" said Indigo.

"Why not? I've got time to kill. And besides, you might need my help if you wish to survive," Maelstrom paused. "I'll be sure to stop by High Command and ask for reinforcements. Until then, you might want to check out what's in that capsule. She might come in handy on your mission."

Indigo looked down at the capsule and picked it off the ground.

 _She might come in handy?_

So there was a gem-person inside this thing. But, how was Maelstrom able to see what was inside it? It was possible she had some power that allowed her to do such a thing, though it seemed oddly convenient.

Maelstrom turned around, "Oh, speaking of which, you have the gems for Pearl and Amethyst, right?"

If Sergeant Seymour hadn't informed her about each of the gem's identities, she likely wouldn't have known what Maelstrom was referring to. Fortunately, Indigo had no trouble understanding.

"I do, why?"

"Could I see them, please?"

Indigo brought out the two gems from the suit's built-in storage and then held them out.

Maelstrom took a few steps forward, took the gems from her hand, and then lifted them up to examine them.

"Ah, excellent. I shall bring these back to the core worlds for analysis. The gems are a manufactured species, so once we learn the means and methods for their construction, we should be able to bolster our own armies with our own gem soldiers."

 _So they're basically like androids or robots._

The woman made a slight curtsy. "You have the Ogrelord's grace."

"Thank you," Indigo bowed.

"Now come this way. If we wish to elude our adversaries, there are a few things we should take care of first."

"Yes, sir."

Indigo Black obeyed, for now that her squad was either dead or captured, she would have to place her trust in Maelstrom's guidance.

* * *

 **A/N: So, now you may or may not know part of the reason why I decided to cross this over with Kingdom Hearts.**

 **I'm not sure whether I cut off too early during some parts of this chapter. I was originally planning on writing the whole fight scene, though complications sorta happened. It probably wasn't necessary to include the whole fight, as most of the events are sorta relayed later. I probably could have expanded a bit more on the post-fight scenes, though I don't really feel like there was much else I needed to cover this chapter.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all are still keeping up with this, despite my haphazard update schedule. Next chapter might be kinda short, depending on how far I decide to go with it, but it'll mostly cover the transition into the next story arc (and more semi-plot related stuff). Anyway, stay tuned and be sure to share your thoughts!**


	10. Contact

After the Blackout incident started, many personnel, from local police to armed personnel and N.A.S.A. researchers were put on high alert. A coordinated defense plan for the elimination of the "Dusk" threat was put into action. Whenever there were reports of local sightings, a specialized task force was sent in to deal with the threat. Rumors were going around that these marines were using some kind of experimental tech reverse-engineered from alien equipment, though most continued about their daily tasks.

Within the Hampton Research Center near southern Delmarva, things were quiet. Among other things, the personnel there received and analyzed data for atmospheric conditions. The Blackout left a pretty big imprint, and despite ground conditions, the satellites were still somehow operational.

Now, they were tasked with keeping an eye for any similar incidents, and for any energy imprints left behind by the Dusks as they gathered up. The "Road-Runner," as people liked to call it, left behind a pretty big streak as it traveled across the country.

There was also a pretty big, and unusual, flare that shot up around the time Road Runner was eliminated. It didn't seem like there was much else to it, but for some reason the folks from the FBI seemed to think it was important.

More interesting, as James O'Connor saw it, was the sudden surge in energy near the north coast of the state just a few hours after the Road Runner incident, since the agency seemed to be all hush-hush about it.

It was obviously different from the readings that showed up in Arkansas, sorta like something like you'd pick up if there's a bomb going off, except all packed into one spot.

Then James heard a sharp beep from his headset.

He turned back to the screen, which had automatically centered itself around the middle of Keystone state.

This one was different, however.

"Boss, we've got something."

* * *

"Steven, wake up!"

"Wha…?"

Steven Universe felt his dad shake him out bed, or at least the sack he was sleeping in. He felt a cold breeze wash over him, and when he finally got to his senses, he saw Riku and Lea standing just outside the van.

"The government guys said they found something."

"Another adventure?" Steven said with a bit less enthusiasm than he should have.

"Looks like it," said Steven's dad.

For the past week or so, Steven, Connie, Riku, Lea, Lapis, and Peridot had been going all over the planet to try and beat up the Heartless whenever they showed up, along with trying to keep up with the Gems' normal duties. Understandably, Steven was a little bit tired, especially since it was in the middle of the night.

Once Steven finally got out of the van, he saw a pair of government vans resting right along the sidewalk. Agent Thompson, Agent Henderson, and Connie were standing just beside them, with Connie carrying her duffel bag.

Connie herself seemed noticeably tired as well, though Steven didn't take much note of it.

"Good evening, Steven," said Agent Thompson.

"Howdy," Steven yawned. "So what's the situation today?"

"We think we may have found a rift near central Keystone."

Steven perked up slightly, "You mean we might be able to find Amethyst and Pearl."

"Can't say for sure. All we know is that our sensors have found some strange activity in the area, and if what you guys have told us is correct, that mean we've found our first clue to the whereabouts of the enemy."

"Well," said Riku, "it's a start."

"We'll be taking the warp pad to the site near central Keystone. Less fuel consumption that way."

Steven off-handedly remembered that they were now keeping track of where each of the warp pads were located, now that the FBI guys got involved in all this.

Agent Thompson continued, "Once we're there, we'll have one of you two try and open it," Agent Thompson said, referring to Connie and Riku. "I suspect not all of you had a good night's sleep, so we all booked you a few rooms at a nearby motel. Not the best of places, but it should do the job."

"What's the point of opening a rift if we're not going through it?" complained Lea.

"Not yet at any rate. If the breach is successful, we'll be sending an advance squad through to monitor conditions on the other side of the portal. Once you're all ready in the morning, you'll be briefed on the current situation."

"Well, can't some of us come with?" said Lea.

"It's better if you all enter as a group, once we've determined whether the coast is clear. We don't want to lose all four of you, since you're the only ones who've directly fought with the Shrekpire's goons."

Lea sighed.

Riku placed his hand on Lea's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get our chance tomorrow."

"Eh, sure."

"So," said Agent Thompson, "you all ready?"

Although Steven's mind wasn't fully awake, it didn't take long for him to realize his current outfit wouldn't be suitable for whatever mission the government guys had.

"Wait," said Steven, "can I get changed?"

"You may get changed before we depart," said Agent Thompson.

Steven looked back towards the car wash and then said, "Okay."

After dad let Steven inside the place, Steven used the inside bathroom to change into his normal clothes, and then returned back outside.

"Anyone else?"

"I think we're all ready," Connie added in a somewhat tired tone.

"Good," said Agent Thompson.

"Well," Steven said as he turned back around towards his dad, "goodbye dad!"

"Be sure to come back soon," his dad said back.

Agent Henderson cleared his throat. "Everyone, this way."

Agent Henderson then began leading everyone present around the rising cliff and towards what remained of the Beach House.

Nothing remained save the warp pad, the temple doors, and whatever objects had not been caught in the fire. Most of the ashes and debris had been cleaned out, though some mementos remained. Steven preferred that some things remained untouched, as it served as a reminder of that day, when he lost both Pearl and Amethyst. At first, the sight saddened him, but Steven eventually got over it.

At least Connie and the others were still alive.

Riku had gotten a new white vest-jacket, fresh new jeans, and a plain black T-shirt since the other one had torn up during the fight. It might not have been as stylish, though it still looked good on him.

Lion seemed to be sleeping at the base of the hill which originally led up to the Beach House. An eye peeked open.

"Hey there Lion!" Steven waved.

The beast let out a great yawn, and then perched itself up.

"You stay here and make sure things are safe."

Lion watched as Steven and the others ascended up the steps that had been placed after the house had burned down.

After finishing up any preparations, the six of them stepped onto the warp pad in teams of three, and then made their way to the destination near central Keystone.

Although the place they exited out at was fairly forested, there was a small road nearby, with an FBI van, a transport truck, and a police car waiting for them.

"Agent Thompson," said an agent standing just beside the van.

"Agent Peterson," said Agent Thompson.

The two agents shook hands.

"These the kids?"

"They sure are."

"We have names, you know," said Lea.

"So what are they?" Agent Peterson said promptly.

"I'm Steven," said Steven Universe.

"Connie," said Connie.

Riku and Lea also introduced themselves.

"I see," Agent Peterson muttered. "The rendezvous point is about twenty minutes from here. I assume Agents Thompson and Henderson have briefed you on the situation?"

"Get to the site and open the rift, right?" Riku answered.

"More or less. Well, no point in waiting. You all getting on or what?"

At the agent's request, Steven, Connie, Riku, Lea, and the other two agents loaded themselves onto the vehicle Peterson had designated for them.

En route to their destination, Agent Peterson added, "We've set up a defensive perimeter at the site, in case everything goes to… well heck. Just gotta say, that thing doesn't look normal by any stretch of the imagination."

"Define normal," said Riku.

As they got close to the destination, they could hear the drone of helicopters soaring overhead. Much of the surrounding forestry looked like it had been cleared out to make room for some of the heavier weaponry. Occasionally, Steven could make out the outlines of people hiding behind tree cover and others lying low to the ground, with only the tiniest glint of their rifles visible to the naked eye.

The open clearing before them looked like a battlefield, with trenches, sandbags, and machine gun emplacements stretching everywhere the eye could see like something out of a war movie. Splotches of dirt dotted what must have once been lush greenery wherever the trees had been upturned, and wherever the troops decided to pile the stuff up. Makeshift bridges and ladders lied here and there, and almost the whole clearing had been transformed save for one splotch of grass in the middle of this ring of devastation.

There was a small sparkle, like a star in the sky, hovering just a foot or two above the ground right at the center of this circle.

 _That must be the rift._

As the three vehicles traveled down the winding perimeter perhaps a few hundred feet away from the massive clearing, they came across what appeared to be a few trailer vans and tents set up in the woods. Steven also saw a few government vehicles similar to the one they had been driving in, and a few of them seemed to have antennae sprouting from the top.

As they circled along, Steven could also see the barrels of a few tanks peeking out from the forest's edge, with dirt and sandbag walls rising up to conceal most of their front.

If there was anything coming out of that rift, it was going to get blown to bits, assuming it wasn't something like a Heartless.

The van stopped.

Steven and the others got out, and Agent Peterson made a call to someone informing them they were at the site.

Although they were partially concealed by the forest around them, there was a straight path to the rift in the center of the clearing, formed by a series of walkways.

Once the call was done, Agent Peterson turned to the others and said, "The men are ready."

"Riku," said Agent Thompson, "you may do your thing."

Riku nodded, and then summoned out his keyblade.

"Do I have to do anything?" Connie asked.

"This usually only requires one person."

Riku took a few steps out into the clearing, turned slightly, and then aimed his keyblade forward.

Light began to shine from the tip, and a laser-like beam shot out and channeled into the rift.

A golden outline of a keyhole-like shape formed around the rift, and then began to fill with light.

Soldiers within the trenches and makeshift defenses began to shuffle.

Once the "keyhole" was filled, it then shrunk into the rift, and then expanded into a bright, shining white oval. The surface of this portal seemed to shimmer with faint, rainbow-like gleams, like the surface of a bubble.

Some of the people closer to the rift were saying something, and after a second or two, about ten soldiers climbed out of the trench and ran into the portal. From what Steven could make out, they seemed to be wearing some kind of special armor, likely rebuilt from whatever the Shrekpire guys used.

"So…" said Lea, "our job here is done, right?"

"Yes, we'll take care of things from here," said Agent Thompson.

Agent Peterson received another call.

"We still have contact with Alpha squadron," said Agent Peterson as he held his phone to the side.

"Spectacular," exclaimed Agent Thompson.

"You mean… we can still communicate with each other through that thing?"

"Seems like it," said Agent Peterson. "Looks like they've encountered some light hostilities, but the situation seems to be under control."

"Good enough for me," said Agent Thompson.

"Alright," said Agent Henderson, "let's get some rest. You've got plenty of work cut out for you tomorrow morning."

* * *

Looks like playtime and games were over.

Pence made his way over to the ice cream shop, still exhausted from his most recent bout of running. Hayner had finally caught up to him today, and so now he was gonna have to buy everyone ice cream.

He was not looking forward to having to do homework for the day. He had held off almost all of his assignments for that week, and now he was gonna have to do everything once he got back to the hideout. There was, like, fifty pages he had to read for this week's reading class, and a bunch of questions and stuff.

Most of the reading assignments the teachers gave out were just plain boring. It just wasn't interesting, like actual real life stuff. What good did learning that stuff even do?

Things sure were boring around here.

Pence missed the days when he could just simply goof off. Well, he still goofed off, but not there was actual school and stuff.

There weren't any mysteries left to solve. There were still a few scuffles with Seifer and his gang, but after they helped Sora break into that alternate Twilight Town, things just weren't the same any more.

Or rather, things were too much the same.

Pence ordered his three sticks of ice cream from the shop. He thought about eating his ice cream right then and there, but then he'd just get hungry while Hayner and Olette ate theirs.

A shadow seemed to stand over him.

As he stepped away from the shop, he saw an old, slightly hunched, bald man with a white goatee wearing a long black overcoat, white gloves, a flip-collared white shirt, and large black boots step in to take his order. His skin had a somewhat dark complexion, and his eyes had a yellowish tint.

After the old man had taken his order, Pence stopped where he was and turned towards the man, "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Well, this is my first time visiting this town," said the man. "It's a rather splendid place, I might say."

"I'm Pence. Do you know Sora, by any chance?"

Pence wasn't sure why this man made him think of Sora, but there was probably some reason for it.

"I might know him."

"Oh," said Pence, "well, if you see him, tell him I said hi."

As Pence began to walk off, he heard the old man say, "You grow tired of this place, don't you boy?"

Pence turned around, "Huh?"

"There are worlds that lie beyond this one."

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't you wish you could meet Sora once more?"

There was something strange, almost seductive about the way the man presented this.

"What are you getting at?" said Pence.

"You have much potential, my boy. With enough time, you may surpass even the greatest of legends."

"What do you mean? Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Master Xehanort. Like Sora, I too can wield the power of the Keyblade.

"You might not be aware, safe as you are in this sanctuary of a world, but the natural order of things has been torn asunder. A new menace has appeared from beyond the boundaries of time and space, and they have captured Sora and his friends."

Pence's mind didn't fully register this remark, "Huh?"

"It might be difficult for one such as yourself to believe," said Xehanort as he paced back and forth, "seeing how little you have traveled beyond the confines of your world. But what I say is the truth. A Great Shrekpire has arisen from beyond, and should its people ever discover the means to access this world, they will not hesitate to annihilate this town and everyone in it."

This was… a lot to take in. Pence still had doubts about what the old man was saying, but if he knew about Sora and Keyblades and stuff, there must have been some truth to what he was saying.

Just what the heck was a "Shrekpire" supposed to be anyway?

Whatever it was, it definitely sounded like bad news, and if they got Sora…

Before Pence could finish his thoughts, the old man leaned in and spoke once again, "But I believe _we_ have what it takes to take on the Shrekpire, and expel them the greater World once and for all."

But if they were strong enough to defeat Sora and his friends, how was someone like Pence supposed to make a difference?

"But how…" Pence began to mutter.

"For you see," Xehanort continued, "with new realities comes new possibilities. In my travels through the Worlds Beyond, I have learned many new things. There are powers that surpass those of Light and Darkness, and my findings indicate that you are naturally attuned to such powers.

"Like I said before, within your heart lies great potential, and it is my duty as Master to see that those powers are awakened."

 _Powers… greater than Light and Darkness._

Pence had trouble taking this all in. Just what was this power, and why was Xehanort so certain that Pence had it?

Master Xehanort then materialized a strange, sphere-like object within his right hand. A thin, cloud-like white mist seemed to swirl around the surface of the sphere, while the inside was filled with a dim, green haze. A whitish, flame seemed to flicker at its center, though Pence felt no heat standing where he was.

At the same time, the strange object had a crystal-like sheen to it, and Pence could not help but be drawn into its splendor.

It was… calling to him.

Xehanort continued to speak as Pence remained fixated on the strange object. "What you see here is the soul of Lord Farquaad, a man of great legend and renown. He had been one of the few to oppose Shrek during his rise to power, though he had perished while fighting a powerful fire-breathing dragon. Since then, his soul has been lost with time, but I have found it.

"I myself cannot make use of it, but I believe you have what it takes to receive its powers."

As Xehanort held the soul of Lord Farquaad before him, Pence felt himself instinctively reaching out to grab it.

Pence also felt one of Xehanort's hands touch his shoulder, but he did not make much note of it.

Pence looked deep within the soul, like it had been some crystal ball.

He saw things as they once were, and he saw things as they would come to be.

As the boy slowly drew the flickering soul into his chest, a smile crept upon his face, for now he understood the true meaning of greatness.

"From now on, you shall be known as Lord Pence."

Lord Pence did not need the old geezer's recognition or praise, for Lord Pence was fully aware of his own destiny.

The old geezer turned around, and a shroud of darkness appeared before him.

"We'll need to gather some allies beforehand, but with time, the Shrekpire shall fall. And in its wake, we shall have sole dominion over the ashes that remain. This is the destiny that we must strive to bring to fruition, Lord Pence."

"My body is ready."


	11. The Shadow from Beyond

Things were going splendidly.

This land was fully under Maleficent's control. It didn't take long for her to find allies who wished to join with the powers of darkness, and soon she would find even more members for her league of villainy, if what the Shadow Sirens said was correct.

She didn't quite trust them however. With a name like "Shadow Queen," it was likely she might refuse to work for the greater evil, but Maleficent was none too worried.

All she had to do was keep them in line, which wouldn't be too difficult. One was cowardly and incompetent, the other was too dumb for her own good, and the third was well aware of Maleficent's power. Why else would she prepare such flowery words and praises?

She had defeated their previous master, after all.

And now, his base belonged to her.

There still remained some threats to her power. The princess she held captive mentioned something about a man named "Mario," to whom she sent a map detailing the secret locations of the crystal stars required to open the way to the Shadow Palace.

Perhaps a Keyblade would suffice, not that she was in any position to acquire one.

It was rather fortunate that she had found a means to travel to this world, likely through the help of unspoken allies, though she would need to find a way to remedy that.

 _Speaking of which…_

A pair of doors slid open some distance behind her, and in walked one of her more recent recruits, a black-and-red coated beast about a quarter to half her height.

Maleficent wasn't quite sure where he came from, but Shadow certainly had proved his usefulness. He wasn't quite that trustworthy, and Maleficent was half-expecting him to turn against her at some point, but for now, their interests aligned. Shadow wanted power, and Maleficent would help him reach that power, so long as she remained in control.

Shadow also seemed to know something about the invaders, so that was convenient.

"You have something to report?" Maleficent asked her lackey.

"Yeah," said Shadow, "we had a couple of goons in Poshley Heights."

Maleficent wasn't quite sure what type of goons Shadow was talking about, though she chose to ignore the thought.

"And why haven't you taken care of them?"

Come to think of it, there were supposed to be a few synthetics and machines stationed in the area, and the Heartless should have been able to take care of anything else, as notoriously fragile as they were.

Shadow's reply was prompt, "Already did. Seems they went through a rift nearby."

A rift, like the one they went through to reach whatever this world was?

Shadow continued, "They fight a lot like the folks from where I'm from. Soldier types."

Well, that certainly raised a few questions, though it didn't quite explain how they broke through, or how they were able to defeat the Heartless. They couldn't have come from Agrabah, as the people there were far too ill-prepared to handle anything Maleficent and her cohorts had assembled here, and Shadow would have mentioned if these folks looked like the invaders.

"They were wearing some sort of armor," Shadow added.

Maleficent had no idea why Shadow mentioned this, though perhaps he attached some importance to this fact.

"Did you see whether they had Keyblades?" Maleficent asked.

Although Shadow had not seen a Keyblade looked like, Maleficent had explained to him what they were, in the event they happened to run into Sora and his friends.

"Didn't look like Keyblades," said Shadow, "but they didn't have any problems cleaning up the Heartless."

"So what were they using?"

"Some type of gun it looks like. Not the kind I've seen before, but I've brought in a few for analysis."

Ah yes, Shadow seemed unusually fond of those things, even though their power paled in comparison to magic.

Shadow then said, "We should do something about this."

"Whatever do you mean?" Maleficent asked.

It was pretty clear that Shadow had this situation under control, and if things got out of hand, Maleficent could always step in and exert her might.

"I get the feeling we'll be seeing more of them soon. Except this time, they're going to be bringing in bigger guns.

"That squad was probably their scouting party, and if we faced their army in a straight up fight, well, who knows what sort of firepower they might be packing?"

"You question the power of darkness, the very power that you wield with your own two hands?"

"The same darkness that got cleaned up by a handful of grunts?"

"Do not forget who you are speaking to. If you are incapable of dealing with these adversaries, then they shall reckon with me."

"So you are, 'The Mistress of All Evil' as you put it. I don't remember you having the cleanest of records when it comes to dealing with your adversaries."

"Keep your tongue!" Maleficent hissed.

"Well…" said Shadow as he began to turn around, "Remember, I'm only working with you so long as it's convenient for me. If it turns out this power of Darkness is not worth pursuing, then maybe you should find a new henchman."

Maleficent watched as Shadow walked out of the command chamber.

To think that anyone would dare to question her power.

Though perhaps she was no longer the menace she once was. For a while, she had to rely on that bumbling Pete of all people, and perhaps her plan to infiltrate the journal's database had not been the most ambitious of objectives.

Just then, series of images flashed in her mind.

A time when she had been called to serve The Fairy Godmother for a purpose she could no longer remember.

Spellcraft and fire erupted all around her.

Powers she could barely understand.

Chaos. Destruction.

 _Why do I… remember this?_

Thousands of burning spears rushed towards her dragon form.

In an instant, she had been reduced to nothingness.

A sacrificed pawn.

 _No, these are nothing more than dreams and fairy tales._

And behind all that, jealousy stirred.

There was a figure, a face she could barely remember, that she despised almost by instinct.

Maleficent was perhaps the greatest of all fairies, and yet The Fairy Godmother, the precursor to all fairies, favored _her_ over Maleficent.

Why?

Yet despite her immense power, Maleficent had perished in mere seconds.

 _I must not dwell on these insignificant thoughts._

None of that had ever happened. It was all just a dream. The Fairy Godmother was only a legend, and the one who took that name was nothing more than a petty nuisance.

Maleficent returned her attention to the console before her. She still hadn't quite figured out the technology behind it, but she was slowly learning. It didn't quite have the same effectiveness as raw magic, but it had its uses, however minor they were.

The AI probably would have sped up the learning process, but it had too much awareness to be left alive.

As for the subject of Shadow's findings, perhaps she could attempt to establish dominion over that world. If their common soldiers were strong enough to defeat her Heartless and those robots Shadow and the natives cooked up, then perhaps they would better serve her interests.

The only question was how do go about doing that. A forward approach would obviously be ineffective, but perhaps she could try seeing whether they had any weaknesses she could exploit.

A signal then flared up on the console.

"That's odd…"

* * *

Connie's phone alarm woke her up.

It wasn't the same alarm that Connie normally used to wake herself up, but Connie nevertheless flipped over in much the same manner as she used to shut off her normal alarm, even though her phone was much smaller.

She slowly adjusted herself.

Then she remembered. This wasn't her house.

The room had basic furnishings, but it wasn't quite the same as her own room. It felt lonely.

Connie wouldn't have agreed to this under normal circumstances, but things hadn't been normal lately.

On the bright side, though, the room seemed clean, despite the motel's rustic outward appearance.

The government guys seemed intent on everyone getting up early, so sleepiness still had its hold.

Connie got out of bed and did whatever she needed to do before heading down for breakfast.

With the room keys in her pocket and her duffel bag in hand, Connie left the room. A pair of government agents flanked the entrance.

"Downstairs," one of the agents reminded her.

Connie briefly looked back at the door. She wasn't sure whether she was coming back here after their incursion into the next world over, though Connie had only brought the basic necessities with her anyway.

Hopefully, she wasn't falling too far behind in school, though she tried to keep up with the workload as best she could.

She took a left down the hall, and then went down the stairs to the "lobby" area. It was much less extravagant than the entrances to most hotels, though there was a small "dining" area off to the side where breakfast was served. It looked more like the kitchen that used to be in Steven's house than anything else, minus the stoves and ovens.

"Hey Connie!" Steven said as he waved to her, before taking a bit out of some sort of egg sandwich.

"Steven? You already got up?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What's the big surprise?"

Connie turned to Lea, who was also sitting at the table Steven was sitting at, alongside Riku, who was mostly minding his own business.

A voice then spoke from behind Connie, "Your father left you something."

Connie turned around, retrieving a brown paper bag from Agent Henderson.

"Oh! Well, tell him I say thanks."

Looking around her, it was unlikely her parents would allow her to eat the stuff the hotel was offering, though it didn't look like the stuff the others were eating had been made here.

Connie quickly checked the contents of her bag, and then sat beside Steven, eying his sandwich and the hash browns resting in the container before him.

"Where did you guys get that?"

"The government guys got it for us," Steven said.

"It's not half bad," said Lea. "Want some?"

"No thanks. I think I should be fine."

Connie pulled out the plastic container inside her back and began eating the contents inside.

Once everyone finished eating, one of the agents approached the table and said, "Alright, looks like everyone's finished. Gather up your things and do whatever business you need to do. You'll be briefed when you get into the van."

Riku and Lea simply looked at each other, seeing as they didn't really bring anything with them.

Connie was already prepared, so she didn't really need to do anything beforehand.

"I think we're all ready," Connie said, once she was done with her examination.

"Bathroom!" Steven exclaimed as he jumped out of his seat. One of the agents pointed him in the right direction, and so he went off.

After several more minutes of waiting, Steven finally returned.

"Okay, I'm done!"

"Well that took a while," Lea remarked.

"Let's not wait any more than we have to," said one of the agents, who then motioned the group to follow him.

They all walked out of the motel and stepped into a van stationed in the parking lot just outside.

Inside, Agents Thompson and Peterson were waiting for them.

Once the doors were closed, and once the van was in motion, Agent Peterson spoke up, "We've got bad news, kids."

"What happened?" asked Steven.

"Remember Alpha Squadron?" Agent Thompson asked.

"They went missing?" Riku guessed.

"They're dead."

"Wha…!" Steven uttered, "How did this even happen?"

Connie's reaction to the news had been a bit slower, though she still felt a sense of panic and dread.

"What happened anyway?" said Connie.

She knew how dangerous the Shrekpire soldiers could be, having faced them first-hand, but she didn't expect a trained squad of marines or special forces to go down so quickly. She didn't even know if it was the Shrekpire forces the soldiers had faced, since the pursuit force seemed to be the main ones going after Riku, and it had been a while since the rift was apparently opened.

"One thing at a time," Agent Thompson began. "I know this might have come a bit suddenly, but luckily we have some information."

Agent Thompson then gestured to Agent Peterson, who then played a video clip on a computer sitting diagonally across from Connie.

The video footage, presumably from one of the soldiers from Alpha Squad, displayed a town in ruins. It was clear from what was left of the wreckage that it used to be a fairly developed place, with scorched hedges and fragmented golden gates bordering the edges of each sub-district. The remains of columns of Classical Greek architecture could be seen rising in the distance.

It was clear that this had been the site of a major battle. The shattered remains of combat robots lie scattered throughout the town square, along with several corpses and glob-like things that struck Connie as familiar.

The poof of a disintegrating Heartless could be heard nearby.

"Area secure," said some soldier, likely off-camera.

"Did we… cause this?" Steven asked.

"No," said Agent Thompson, "It was like this when our soldiers got there."

"We don't have time to show you everything, so we just skipped to the important stuff," said Agent Peterson.

A few small creatures began to peek out from behind the wreckage. Some of them looked like blue penguins, but a few others had heads that looked like round, spotted mushrooms.

"They're… Toads!" Connie remarked.

"Well, they don't look like any toads I've seen," said Lea.

Agent Peterson then told the two of them to "Shh!" and the two of them then went quiet.

One of the Toads went forth and said, "You…"

 _ **-PEW!-**_

The sound was slightly subdued, but the moment the gunshot was heard, the camera began swinging this way and that, until it finally focused on a soldier lying on the ground, his armor punctured straight through the skull.

"Up there!" a voice called.

The camera then spun around to the top of one of the wrecked buildings further into town, where a black, spiky-haired creature stood on top, holding some sort of sniper rifle in its arms.

Its head was significantly larger than its body, and it had large eyes akin to a cartoon character. Streaks of red also seemed to line its fur, and it also wore white gloves and shoes.

The figure looked strangely familiar, and somehow, despite features that might suggest otherwise, Connie instinctively knew it was a hedgehog.

"Who is that?" Lea asked.

Riku simply eyed the screen, his arms crossed. Something about the way the boy looked at the creature suggested he too had seen it somewhere before, so perhaps he knew where it came from.

 _No, that can't be right._

Just like the Toads and the other Mario-esque creatures, Connie knew this figure by sight.

 _Shadow._

Before Connie could say anything, however, Shadow leaped high up into the air, and spun until nothing could be seen but a whirling, black sphere.

"Take cover!"

The camera instantly spun around, and the loud ring of gunfire spat out from the computer's speakers.

The camera then went behind one of the ruins lying about. Not much was visible from this point on, though occasionally the camera spun a bit whenever the soldier holding it turned to shoot.

The harsh crunch of metal and broken bones could also be heard, and during a few of the instances where the camera peeked from behind the soldier's cover, glimpses of Heartless could be seen nearby, along with the mangled, trashed, and bloody corpses of the soldiers who died.

For an instant, one shot rang slightly louder than others, but then the audio feed suddenly cut off. The camera tipped to the ground, and the battle could thus be seen more clearly.

There was unearthly silence. Almost everyone was dead.

Shadow approached with one of the other soldier's rifles in hand.

When he got close, he seemed to stop, but then he raised his foot up and out of sight of the camera.

The footage then cut there.

"That's… horrible," Steven uttered.

Lea also seemed shocked, even though he probably had more combat experience than Steven or Connie combined.

Connie, however, was utterly speechless.

Maybe Shadow didn't have the same powers that Steven, the Gems, or the Keyblade wielders had, but something about this encounter seemed unnervingly real. It was easy to forget that she had likely fought foes stronger than this in the past few weeks, just seeing how easily Shadow had taken down Alpha Squadron.

And unlike Steven, Connie was still human.

Agent Thompson broke the silence, "You all look like you've seen ghosts. Can't really blame you. You're all still young, and it can take a while to get used to this stuff.

"Connie, you had something you wanted to say?"

Connie then woke from her state of horror, "Oh, I was just thinking… he looks really familiar."

"Yeah," said Agent Thompson. "Our folks were thinking the same thing.

"His appearance matches that of Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Shadow?" Riku muttered.

"Don't know how many of you have heard of him, but then again it doesn't look like the Sonic series has been doing that well these days.

"Of course, that's not the only thing we picked up."

Agent Peterson went over to the computer, and then brought up the images of the penguin-things and the Toads.

"A lot of these things look like they came straight out of Mario," said Agent Thompson. "You folks might not recognize them, but Mario's pretty popular in these parts," he said to Lea and Riku.

"And who's he?" Lea asked.

"He's from a video game, I think," said Steven.

Connie had an odd feeling that she'd have to explain a lot of things about this world before this adventure was finally over.

"The kids can probably explain these things better than I can," said Agent Thompson. "The area Alpha Squad scouted also matches some of the geography in _Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door._ We've prepared maps for you kids just in case, though keep in mind that not everything matches up."

One of the other agents standing around in the van went to pick up a small stack of pamphlets and handed it out to the four of them. When Connie unfolded hers, it looked like someone had just printed on an unusually large sheet of paper and then folded it up, but the map printed on there was surprisingly detailed.

"Uh," said Lea as he struggled to comprehend the information in front of him, "you guys keep track of this." After folding back up his map, Lea then said, "So what are we supposed to do about this Shadow guy?"

"We're not entirely sure," Agent Thompson responded. "Ideally we'd like to capture him, but I suspect that won't be easy.

"Whatever the case is, Shadow doesn't appear to be native to this dimension."

"Can't say I've seen him before," said Lea.

"We didn't really see anything like him while traveling, and I don't think he's from our world," said Riku.

"Yeah, I had a feeling of that," said Agent Thompson. "Plus, those robots don't look like anything from the games that we could find. I suspect they may be related to the Shrekpire, though we can't say for sure until we've got evidence.

"Either way, he is a threat, and it will be difficult to rescue the other gems or capture that runaway soldier while he's around.

"Steven, Connie, Riku, Lea, your mission is to find and subdue Shadow by whatever means necessary. We feel that your powers and abilities are better suited for dealing with Shadow's firepower and mobility. I know this might be asking a bit much, but there's not much else we can do if we wish to move forward.

"It's not going to be easy, but hopefully Steven's defensive capabilities will help keep the four of you alive."

There was the dreaded word. _Alive._

Although there was some peace with the minor missions to clear out the Heartless, once again Connie felt that same sense of urgency from back when she fought against those Shrekpire soldiers and back from when she helped to hunt down those corrupted gems.

"You can count on me, sir!" Steven said with enthusiasm.

Strangely enough, the other two boys didn't seem all that worried.

"You might find some allies in the area who may be willing to work with you," Agent Thompson continued.

The third agent then brought out a set of folders and distributed them. Inside appeared to be a list of people who presumably existed in the Paper Mario dimension, including Mario himself, and a few others Connie recognized.

"Dude!" said Lea in mild disgust, "Why does she look like that?"

Lea was obviously talking about Flurrie.

"Blame the game developers," Agent Thompson uttered.

"Who are you talking about?" Steven asked.

Riku leaned over to see Lea's page, and then pointed to the image Lea was viewing in Steven's folder.

"I don't see anything wrong with how she looks," said Steven.

"You'll understand when you're older," said Agent Thompson.

Steven was in fact older than Connie, though the fact he wasn't instinctively put off by Flurrie's character design was likely due to his sheltered upbringing.

"But enough of that," Agent Thompson continued. "On that sheet, you'll also find some information on where those folks might be located."

Looking at the sheet, each character either had one or two locations where they would have been recruited by Mario in-game, or where they could most commonly be sighted. Mario's location, however, remained blank, most likely because his location would vary depending on circumstances in the world they were going to.

Though, considering how strong on-average characters from the Mario-verse tended to be, Connie wasn't sure they would be much help for taking on Shadow.

"So Mario's the main guy we're looking for," said Riku.

"Seems that way," said Agent Thompson. "He's the main hero of that world, much like how the Gems are usually the ones who protect us when things go down."

"Okay, find Mario, got it!" said Steven.

"One more thing before we arrive at the rift," said Agent Thompson, "The town you saw in that footage is about two miles east of where you'll be heading out from. The maps say there should be a pipe you'll be able to access somewhere in town. Otherwise, you might have to take a train to get to the main hub area in this world."

That sounded like one heck of a walk.

"I know," said Agent Thompson, "it sounds like quite a distance. I wish we could make the rift big enough so we could haul some of our heavier equipment through, but we have to make do with what we've got."

"You know," said Steven, "why don't we ask Peridot if she's willing to come along?"

"Huh?" Lea uttered.

"Who's that?" asked Agent Peterson.

"Why on earth didn't I think of that sooner?" Agent Thompson said as he held his hand to his forehead.

"She could make something out of those scraps so it would be easier for us to move around," Steven said.

"Steven, that's brilliant!" said Connie.

"I just thought it might be a good idea."

"Hold on," said Agent Thompson as he fished out his phone, "let me do a couple quick calls."

He then began to call what were presumably agents located near Beach City.

Once he was done, he said, "We may need to put this mission on hold for a moment."

* * *

There was blackness.

She did not know how long she had been suspended like this. A year? A day? A millennium?

She did not know.

She could occasionally hear whispers through the void, though oftentimes she would forget what they were.

Such was the nature of things.

Was this a prison meant to contain her, or merely stasis?

She had borne witness to a vision, so powerful it almost blinded her.

A vision of love in its purest form.

It was the same love that gave birth to her form, the same love from which all life was created, and yet it was different somehow.

Her eye allowed her to foresee many possibilities, but what she had seen was perhaps beyond comprehension.

She had seen things as they once had been, and she had seen things as they would come to be.

A billion images compressed into a single whole. In all of them, there was one central form.

 _Shrek._

All it took was a single glimpse to understand why people gave such praise to the Ogrelord's name.

Shrek was love. Shrek was life.

And yet, from the whispers she heard, she knew that the figure the people worshiped was but a faint, fleeting image of what the Ogrelord once had been. Their devotion was genuine, but the faith itself had been corrupted by some malign influence, determined to use the power of the faithful to fulfill its own ends.

She had felt that influence, stretching its sinister claw out from deep within the blackness.

She had been able to keep at bay for some time, but she knew she could not hold it off forever.

Immense power burned deep within that thing, and if it ever decided to unleash the full extent of its power, it would shatter her in an instant.

Whatever it was, it was beyond natural.

She knew she must work to keep this thing from growing ever stronger, but already it had swallowed two of her friends. Who knows how many other countless souls it had consumed to grow to its current form.

She could not feel it now, but she knew it was lurking somewhere deep within.

The universe had granted her these visions, tasking her with this holy quest. Even from within the void, she had been able to work, but now she was needed in realm of the living.

Once again, Shrek would return to bring the worlds their salvation, and once again, the people would bear witness to Shrek's divine ogre love.

A faint light began to peep from deep within the darkness.

 _Shrek is love. Shrek is life._

* * *

 **A/N: Kinda felt this was an odd point to stop at, as I kinda originally planned to go further into the story before stopping. Not sure if/where I might have made inaccuracies or whatnot.**

 **Also, I originally intended for the _SU/Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door_ rift to end up at Riverside station, but then I realized that the U.S. soldiers/special forces squad would not have been able to make it to Poshley Heights before Steven and friends woke up (based on how long it takes the train to get to that place), so I adjusted things a bit there.**

 **Not sure why, but I had a few hiccups early on while writing this chapter (though my fic writing pace has been slow, due to a bunch of other stuff). Figured now would be a good time to put out a chapter, as it's sorta been a while since my last chapter, though some parts may a bit unpolished.**


	12. Taken

After another hour or so of waiting, they were all finally through.

It took them another half hour to cross through the dry landscape, but far ahead, they could see bits of green and a deserted town.

"So, this is the place," Connie uttered.

They didn't seem to have too much trouble getting here, though it sorta helped that they had a few professional soldiers helping them along the way.

They could make out the faint line of tracks that led throughout the west end of town, though the sun was starting to come down.

Like on Earth, time wasn't always the same wherever Steven went.

They hadn't encountered that Shadow guy yet, but something told Steven that they'd find him as soon as they got into town.

There was supposed to be this penguin guy, Pennington, who knew where this crystal star was supposed to be. The guide said he wasn't supposed to be around, though it said they might find him if they got on the train at Rogueport.

As they got close, the terrain seemed to rise a bit where the train presumably unloaded its passengers. The crumbled and charred remains of a red-and-white building stood immediately before them.

A black-and-red figure rose from it.

Connie, Riku, Lea, and Steven summoned out their weapons, while Peridot immediately took to cover.

Shadow's eyes opened up, and he pointed some type of assault rifle at the group.

As he heard the shots from Shadow's gun, Steven leaped into the bullets' trajectories, all of them bouncing off his shield.

Shadow seemed unimpressed, "Just as I figured."

The black hedgehog leaped high into the air, spinning into a ball, and then launched himself into some of the robotic wreckage nearby, while simultaneously ripping out a rocket launcher from it.

"Target sighted!" one of the soldiers nearby said.

Although they held their fingers near the triggers, the soldiers held their fire as Riku rushed ahead to engage the hedgehog head on.

"Riku!" Steven called out, "come back!"

Riku was too far ahead for Steven to protect him, and Steven didn't to see anyone hurt or dead.

Especially not like what happened during that last fight.

As Steven though this, he saw a rail lift up from one of the tracks as Peridot concentrated her mental energies upon it.

"Peridot, wait!"

"What? Can't you see that I'm trying to do something useful for once?"

Peridot then sent the beam flying towards Shadow, as Riku simultaneously strove to dash at him.

A faint noise came from Shadow, and he then leaped onto the beam before then dashing across it, despite his feet not seeming to connect as he strode.

Riku, luckily, jumped out of the way as the rail came close.

"Careful with that!" he shouted.

But before long, Shadow was soaring over them, his rocket launcher directly aimed for the ground.

 _ **-PSHOO-KABOOOM!-**_

A rush of dirt, grass, and fire rushed over the group as Steven quickly deployed his bubble. Luckily, it had caught Connie, Peridot, and one of the soldiers, though there was no telling where the others had gone.

Steven could briefly see a flash shortly after the blast subsided, and so Steven quickly dismissed his bubble, readied his shield, and then leaped toward where he saw it.

 _ **-PLUNK!-**_

Through the dirt that now covered his body, Steven thought he could see Shadow being thrown back, and his weapon bouncing on the ground.

"Damn," the hedgehog said, "the hell was that?"

But before Shadow could get back up, Steven slammed right near him, and then smashed his shield into him.

"This is for all those people that died!"

The blow hit hard and knocked Shadow back, though he was quicker to recover this time.

Steven then heard a loud, imperious voice come from within town, accompanied by a whoosh, "Shadow! What is the meaning of this?"

Shadow did not respond, but instead looked around, as if looking for a way out of his dilemma. As Steven watched his movements, Shadow clutched onto the side of his chest, as if Steven's blow had almost knocked the wind out of him.

"Maleficent," Steven heard Riku say from somewhere in town.

"I should have known that you were responsible for the rift."

"What are you up to this time?"

"Blizzara!" Steven heard Connie shout as she pointed her keyblade at Shadow, right at the edge of his field of view.

An ice crystal shot out of the end of the tip of Rose's Sword, and then began drifting towards Shadow.

The hedgehog immediately leaped over the tracks, and the began drifting through what remained of Poshley Heights. Upon a closer look, it seemed as though some sort of thrust was coming out of the soles of his shoes.

As this was happening, Steven heard Maleficent say, "Me? I am simply taking what is rightfully mine."

Now that he was relatively unoccupied, Steven peeked over the tracks and shouted, "This world doesn't belong to you!"

Far in the distance, Shadow continued to retreat into town. Now that he seemed to be out of reach, Riku then turned his attention back to the ominous figure who was now speaking.

Maleficent looked unquestionably evil, wearing a long, flowing black robe and wielding a sinister staff. She seemed to be wearing a horned headpiece that clung tightly to her. Although it was difficult to make out, her skin also seemed to have a greenish tint to it.

"Fire!"

A hail of bullets flew from the nearby soldiers towards the dark sorceress, though she seemed to dissipate into a green flame, only to reappear atop one of the other buildings.

She looked displeased.

"Will you not interrupt me when I am talking?"

"Sorry," said Lea, "but it looks like these guys don't play nice."

Some of the soldiers, taking cover behind the tracks, turned to shoot somewhere else, though Steven couldn't see what they were shooting at.

"As I was about to say…"

Far to Steven's left across the tracks, Shadow's black form rose into the air and unleashed a storm of bullets upon the some of the soldiers nearby. A few shots strayed toward Connie, but the barrier produced by Rose's sword-turned-keyblade deflected them.

The sight was gruesome, but Steven tried to remain as calm as he could.

 _I can fix them… I can fix them…_

He had fixed Connie, so fixing them should be a cinch, right?

Shadow then spun himself around, and three small spheres seemed to rush toward the group.

"Grenades!" one of the soldiers still conscious shouted.

At this moment, Peridot rushed past Steven and then extended her arms outward. The grenades then seemed to stop in their trajectory, before then being pushed back toward the city and exploding in midair. A few specks coming from the explosion seemed to shoot towards them, but no one seemed to be injured.

Because of what was happening, Steven hadn't quite picked up what Maleficent was saying. It sounded like she was saying something about "controlling the worlds from this one," but he'd have to ask someone else later.

When Steven returned his attention back towards Maleficent, he saw Riku run and then leap on top of the building Maleficent was on.

Maleficent said, "You do not…"

Just as suddenly, Shadow came up from behind the boy in his ball form.

"Riku!" Steven shouted.

Riku instantly rolled to dodge out of the way of Shadow's attack, but just as unexpectedly, Shadow seemed to home in on Riku. In a swift recovery, Riku whipped his keyblade in front and intercepted Shadow's attack, but unlike Steven's block, the boy was pushed back.

"Keep firing," one of the soldiers said.

"Shadow!" Maleficent remarked, taken in shock. "Minions, come to me!"

With a wave of her staff, Maleficent called forth a pair of large, bluish-gray Heartless knights, carrying what appeared to be large shields with bestial faces embedded into them.

Although the soldiers continued to try shooting at both Maleficent and Shadow, their bullets seemed to be deflected by shields of the two towering Heartless. The shields then opened their bestial maw, and fired a pair of fireballs towards the tracks.

"Take cover!"

At the command, everyone scrambled over to the sides of where the fireballs looked like they were going.

 _ **-KABOOM!-**_

Despite their somewhat small size, the blasts seemed to uplift the earth and tear the tracks from their place, though the blast seemed smaller than whatever Shadow had used before.

With a stir of her staff Maleficent then conjured for a small, electric storm, though it was unlike any storm Steven had witnessed.

"You defied the darkness once, but now it shall see to your end! Thunder and Lightning come forth! Bring him to his knees!"

As the charge from Maleficent's attack began to gather, Riku leaped high, but Shadow jumped with them, spun around, and kicked him straight into the ground.

 _ **-BOOM!-**_

Despite the distance, Steven could hear Riku's cries of pain.

"Riku!" Connie then shouted out, "do that thing! Whatever it was you did back at the Beach House, do it again!"

 _Do the roar._

Steven did not know where that voice had come from, nor where he could have possibly heard it before, but for some strange reason, he was overtaken by a strange compulsion to scream at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

He screamed towards the sky, and for a brief moment, the world seemed to fall silent.

But despite his cry, nothing happened. When he looked at the people around him, they merely regarded him as though he had lost his mind to the battle around him.

"Steven?" Connie said.

"Steven," said Peridot, "we're not going to win this fight by screaming with whatever it is humans use to amplify their speech patterns."

"No offense," said Lea, seeming to address Peridot, "but I think we've got more important things to worry about."

He then began to leap over the tracks.

"Soldier, get back here!"

One of the soldiers, most likely the sergeant guy, tried to call out to Lea as he rushed forth, but it didn't seem like he'd listen.

"Sorry, but Riku's too important to leave behind."

"HAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!"

Although not much could be seen behind the towering shield Heartless, Maleficent's triumphant laugh could still be heard.

Lea clenched his teeth.

So Riku was defeated after all.

Steven had already seen Riku being overwhelmed by Maleficent and Shadow's combined onslaught, but now the deed was confirmed.

"You won't be getting away with this!" Lea shouted.

"Oh," said Maleficent, "but I think I will! Shadow, bring him to the castle. We'll discuss this episode later.

"I don't know who you are, or how that girl wields the power of the keyblade, but even if you are Riku's friends, there is no saving him! His heart shall be consumed by darkness! This world, and all others, shall belong to me!"

With another harsh laugh, Maleficent disappeared in a whiff of green flame. Shadow leaped high into the air from the rooftop he was on, carrying Riku's limp and torn body with him.

"After him," said the sergeant.

But just shortly after Shadow disappeared out of sight, more Heartless appeared within the area, and the two shield-Heartless fired another volley of fireballs.

So much had happened in such a short frame of time.

* * *

Once Riku was securely contained, Shadow returned to the fortress's unofficial throne room. There, it seemed that Maleficent was meeting with the Shadow Sirens. All three of them were dumber than bricks.

They all turned to him when he entered.

"The boy is securely apprehended?" Maleficent asked.

 _About as good as he's ever going to be._

The kid was knocked out cold, and he was literally frozen. If it were up to him, Shadow would have put a few more bullets in his head for good measure, but Maleficent wanted him alive so she could use that keyblade of his. Something about hearts or that sort of bullshit.

Shadow thought about sawing Riku's hands off - it would prevent him from using that keyblade against them - but apparently only Riku could wield it or something like that. It would take a miracle to convince him after capturing him, if what Maleficent said about him was true.

"Yeah," Shadow finally responded.

"It's a shame we couldn't defeat these… other-worlders when we had the chance. Those bullets were really starting to get on my nerves."

 _Or she's just too scared._

For all her big talk, Maleficent seemed to have trouble backing it up. Sure, she had that dragon form, but it's not like Shadow hadn't seen anything like that before, and the people of this world were pretty weak.

That summoning in the battle was pretty quick thinking on her part though.

The goons weren't really trouble on their own, but that other kid complicated things.

There was definite force behind that punch. Even Sonic or Knuckles would probably fall from a few direct hits, but that kid hit hard.

 _Who the hell is that guy?_

"So, your magnificence," said the shortest of the Shadow Sirens, Beldam, "what do you wish for us to do now?"

"Guh-huh-huh!" said Marilyn, the largest of the three.

"Patience, my dears," said Maleficent. "The doors to the Shadow Palace shall open for us soon indeed, with or without these Crystal Stars."

"But," said the remaining Shadow Siren, Vivian, "we should still be looking for them, right?"

"Of course we should be, Vivian!" said Beldam. "But thanks to that stupid maiden, we don't have the map!"

"Patience," Maleficent restated. "So long as these intruders and Peach's beloved knight remain unaware of our plans, things will go smoothly."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Shadow said.

"You have something to say?" Maleficent said indignantly.

"Here."

Shadow then pulled out the folder and map that he had found on Riku's person, and then handed them off to Maleficent.

After opening it, Maleficent put the map off to the side, before browsing the contents of the folder.

"They've got schematics on the entire sewer network under Rogueport, including pipes and where they link to."

"What is this?"

Maleficent then pulled out a file on what appeared to be Mario and several other individuals, who presumably resided in this realm. The list seemed to be color coded, to indicate which people might be potential allies to the outsiders.

"Traitors," Maleficent said with apparent disinterest.

Vivian was one of the people listed as a "potential ally" in that file, though if Maleficent had taken note of that fact, it didn't show aside from that brief remark.

Shadow watched as she continued to sift through the files. A few of them seemed to detail a report of some kind, though Shadow hadn't gone through it yet.

"My, this is quite interesting," Maleficent said with a smile on her face.

"What is it, Miss Maleficent?" Vivian asked.

"It seems we will have no need of that map you treasure so much. Within these pages lie the secrets to the Crystal Stars, should our key fail us."

"Guh?" Marilyn uttered.

"I'll need some time to go over this. In the meantime, the four of you may do as you please. Within the hour, I should have a new set of tasks for you."

"Oh yes," Beldam said gleefully, "that sounds wonderful! Come my lovelies! We must… er… what was it we were doing before we got here?"

Marilyn simply stood silent, while Vivian scratched the back of her head.

"Spreading darkness and terror?" Vivian said awkwardly.

"Mweee-hee-hee-hee! Why yes, that sounds like a wonderful thing to do!"

"Didn't you say that you found some of the traitors at The Great Puni Tree?" said Maleficent, looking up from the report.

Shadow, at the very least, remembered the report. Some of the X-Naut guys didn't take it too well that their leader was dead, so they went with that second-in-command-guy to one of their other outposts.

"Eh?" Beldam uttered.

"You might find one of the Crystal Stars there. Perhaps if you found a way to infiltrate it, and persuade the local inhabitants to embrace the darkness, our plan can proceed on its rightful course. Infiltration is your specialty after all."

The three shadowy figures looked at each other with excitement, and then curtsied to Maleficent.

"Yes!" said Beldam, "We are ever humbled by your wisdom of your wickedness, oh honorable Maleficent!"

"We are thankful," said Vivian.

"Guh-huh," Marilyn uttered.

"You're certainly much better than that moronic Grodus fellow!" Beldam added.

"Excellent," said Maleficent, "now be off!"

The three Shadow Sirens then disappeared into the ground, and went off to wherever they usually go when they did that thing.

Maleficent then turned back to the reports in front of her, shuffling back through the pages.

As she was going through the profile list, her eyes seemed to twitch a bit, and her mouth briefly opened in shock.

"What…? But how can…? Could this mean…"

"Hmmm?" Shadow mumbled aloud.

"Oh, it is nothing," said Maleficent.

"Don't buy it," the hedgehog replied bluntly.

Maleficent then grimaced, but then held out the page she was reading before him.

"I could have sworn I remembered him from somewhere,"

As she said this, she pointed to a file detailing a creature or person named "Bowser." He looked like some sort of turtle-lizard-demon thing, with spikes on his shell, yellowish scales, and red hair, though like all the other pictures in the file, his seemed unusually cartoonish.

"Can't say I recognize him," said Shadow.

"Perhaps it is just my imagination," said Maleficent.

* * *

Steven and Connie reclined by the rubble of what once used to be a vibrant red building, dismissing their weapons.

The area was now clear of Heartless, though there was no telling whether Maleficent and Shadow would be coming back.

Steven had managed to heal the soldiers that got hit during the fight, just like he had done with Connie.

Peridot was over by one of the robot husks, trying to piece something together out of what remained.

Lea was over with the other soldiers, surveying what was left of the town. A few penguin folk and Toads who had been hiding during the firefight eventually appeared within sight. A few of the soldiers seemed to be questioning them, though Steven couldn't make out what they were saying.

For the few survivors there were, however, there were many more corpses, which the soldiers began making graves for.

"This place is bigger than I imagined it would be," said Connie.

"Yeah," Steven replied. "I guess it is."

 _Poor Riku. I hope he's alright._

Lea must have been taking it harder though. They must have been friends for who knows how long.

Steven could understand what he was feeling. After all, he had just lost most of his family over the past few weeks.

A voice broke the relative silence, "We found something!"

It didn't seem specifically addressed to him or Connie, but Steven stood up anyway. A few of the other soldiers around also began to make their way towards the temple-building in the distance.

Connie also stood up, and the two of them made their way over to where everyone was gathering.

When they entered the sub-district containing the ruined temple, they saw a large, blue pipe towards their right. Lea was already there.

"This is it!" Connie exclaimed.

"This is what?" Steven asked.

"The pipe! We can use this to reach Rogueport's Sewers!"

"Oh, yeah!" said Steven, still a bit unsure what this meant.

"I think I saw Shadow go over this way during the fight," said Lea. "He must have taken this pipe to go wherever he was going."

"But couldn't he have gone anywhere else?" Steven asked. The area looked fairly big, so Shadow and Maleficent could have gone anywhere.

"Wait guys! Wait up!"

Peridot came as fast as she could down the cracked streets, carrying some of the parts she had scavenged in her arms.

"What did I miss?"

"We just found the warp pipe to this area," said Connie.

"Well, this metal certainly looks salvageable. Wait, did you just say warp pipe?"

"Yes."

"But how does this even…?"

"Well, I guess we'll have to just see."

Connie then climbed up onto the edge of the pipe, and then lowered herself into it while straddling the edge with her arms.

"Wait stop…!" said one of the soldiers nearby.

"Connie are you sure this is…" said Steven.

"Don't worry, I think we should be… WAAAAAAAA…!"

Connie then let go, and then slid down into the dark abyss.

* * *

 **A/N: So, another chapter. Battle part might be confusing due to multiple things going on at the same time (and Steven not being able to hear everything). May have taken some artistic liberties with the battle site. Not sure if what had happened in the battle follows what everyone would do at any given moment, though I didn't really plan the battle outcome as it happened in this chapter. Anyway, be sure to stay tuned for more stuff (for however long that'll take)!**


End file.
